Chapters

Introduction -> Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20

Introduction -> Chapter 2
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Ripples

Introduction -> Chapter 2

NOTICE

The level of writing in this fanfiction is unfortunately rather sub-par and does not accurately represent my full capability as an author. This fanfiction had been in production for several months, however for that duration I was oblivious to how bad the writing really was. I may return and improve it later on, and production has not stopped completely, just keep in mind that I have improved greatly as an author since the majority of this fanfiction was written.WinCamXP, 4/5/13 4:39PM

Introduction

A fate worse than death

It all began before I could walk, talk, or think rationally. The draft for service included 66% of all newborn foals, and I was one of those really, really unlucky 66%. I was only with my mother for a day, and then they took me. I don't remember her, or even what she looked like. All I know is that she gave birth to me, and brought me into this world. They took me away to the worst place a pony could be. A place worse than death. They carelessly tossed me, along with twenty other foals, into the back of a truck. They rushed full throttle to the initiation lab, with no regards for safety. Many sharp turns sent us lurching back and forth, crashing into each other and the walls of the vehicle. By the time we were there, most of us were dead, covered in blood, or otherwise seriously injured. I was not as lucky. They took us into the lab inside old used plastic bags with air holes poked in them. Those of us who survived were set on operation tables, and those who didn’t...they were sent to Celestia knows where. No medication was given. They sliced us open with a non-sterile scalpel down the shoulder of our front right forehoof, inserted a strange metal device which attached to the bone, and stitched up the incision. That was when we lost all ability to be somepony. To have any opinions, to be able to speak, or even choose. We simply became a servant, who will follow orders and never falter. Ever. I remember this event because that memory has played back to me in my dreams every time I sleep. I don’t choose when to sleep. They do. I have been unable to control my body since that day. It goes about its evil work, all on its own, and I am trapped inside its head, all alone, unable to fight back.I will watch until the day I die, a life exactly like 66% of the remaining ponies in Equestria. There is nothing we can do but watch. The work performed by our automated bodies includes executing rebels (in the corporate complex, mind you, we can never leave to see the outside world), mining for resources, executing innocents accused to be rebels (there’s really no difference to them), slaughtering diseased animals for food, executing more most-likely-not-rebels, and hauling around very heavy loads and boxes. And we did all of this while forced to listen to the broadcast run by them. They know exactly what to say or broadcast to make us feel like shit. They insult us, congratulate us when we murder all those innocent ponies, and scold us for not working hard enough (what good does THAT do? It’s not like we can help it). I think they deliberately programmed our bodies to do a half-ass job, just so they can beat us and whip us. Yes, they actually do that - usually for hours at a time. And the whip is always covered in little shards of glass, or if it’s a really bad day, hot coals. All while we have no way to fight back. None of us want to live. We all wish we could just die, and hopefully our bodies would continue the dirty work so they wouldn’t know we’re gone. That’s exactly what they do, but if they notice the lack of brainwaves, they pull the switch and the body combusts from the inside out. No point in having a mindless body doing all the hard work for you with no charge, it must have a mind locked in it being eternally tortured. Otherwise, it might as well not be working. I have no idea what it’s like for the lucky-as-hell 33%. It’s surely better than the shit we deal with. All I know is several of them die, every day, at my hooves. The looks in their faces as they know what’s about to happen is the worst part of my entire existence, as little as it may be. Worse than the whippings, worse than the endless torment. Knowing that somepony died, because of my body, without having any way to stop it. So here we are, just another day in the dumps. My body gets thirty minutes of sleep every 24 hours, and I must relive the beginning of my life every single time. And when it’s finally over, I feel like shit. I always feel like shit, but I feel especially shitty when I have to get up. I know what happened way back, and sometimes being kidnapped is worse than what happens after the kidnapping. Reliving that scene for all eternity would sure as hell be better than everything else I go through. But no, I must get up, feel like shit, go to “work”, feel like shit for all day long, go to bed feeling like shit, and wake up feeling like shit. And all of this is fully automated. Did I mention I feel like shit? I just woke up. I always imagined my mind had a body of its own, locked inside my head. I laid back in my dusty red recliner that I have sat in for years, and watch as the “magic” happened. They were feeling generous today, and decided to broadcast a very, very high-pitched squeal through the broadcast. It hurt like hell, but at least they weren’t really tormenting me. It was just raw pain. Better than anything else. I was walking down the hallway to the execution block. Great, starting the day with this. Always makes me feel like there’s sunshine and rainbows all inside me. I can’t close my eyes except for the split-seconds which I blink, I can’t look away, so I just think about the only time I had any free will. I try and think about it, but there’s no more to think about. I’ve run the subject dry. I just have to watch. The glass doors slid open in front of me as if they knew I was coming. Which they did, everything was connected and synchronized. Including us. I walked up to the platform that rose above the pit of death. A small, precariously perched piece of metal with a control panel on it. Always felt like it was going to fall, which would be the best thing to ever happen, but it never did. Two more of us came out from the opposite side of the pit, with the next victim tied in chains so she could not move. This one was purple, with brighter purple hair hanging over her face. The look of terror in her eyes sent my soul loaded with guilt. And this was just the beginning. Everything went as normal. They tied a very uncomfortable, chafe-y rope around her neck, without even bothering to untie her. A crane up above then lifted her roped, chained body to the center of the pit, hanging there. The bottom of the pit was an unknown destiny, exactly what was down there was a mystery. But the victims never found out either. A rotating saw blade controlled by my hooves using buttons and levers on the control panel comes out of the wall and slices the current victim’s head off. Slowly. The blood would always get in my eyes, and I never blinked. The body would fall, but what was left of the head stayed. It was taken away, but exactly to where was yet another mystery I would never know. My hoof reached out to the lever to send the blade on its way to its next victim. The look of pleading in the poor mare’s eyes was unbearable. I wanted to stop. I really did. But she didn’t know, and never will know. My hoof touched the lever, and the sawblade began moving. This was the moment. Just about everything else I could get used to. Just not this. Every single time, I feel like I might as well be the one hanging there. But I was never going to receive such mercy. The saw inched closer and closer. It went as slow as possible to torment both me, and the victim. It grew closer. And closer. And very close. The force of the spinning was now whipping the mare’s hair back and forth. Just as her final breath was about to be exhaled, my hoof stopped. My hoof stopped. What the fuck.......my hoof stopped?! Was this some kind of cruel joke to torment me longer? Suddenly, my legs buckled and I fell onto my side. Electricity coursed through my veins, causing me to spasm. The feeling originated from my right shoulder, exactly where the receiver was. I was too shocked to, well, think. All I felt was electric pain. Then, everything just stopped. I just lie there, flat. Is this what it’s like to die? Will I get to go away now? Then the alarm started. I jerked, startled by the ala- ...I jerked? I JERKED? I looked around me. I could move! I COULD MOVE! Thankfully, years of marching down hallways taught me how to walk perfectly. I immediately got up, and marched as fast as I could towards the exit to this room. I heard the sawblade start again behind me, and the final scream of the poor mare. But it was too late for that. I continued marching. But the alarm continued, and suddenly the high squealing from the broadcast stopped and a voice screamed inside my head. “STOP! STOP THIS INSTANT, YOU LITTLE FUCKER! MARCH RIGHT BACK INTO THERE AND SURRENDER!” it yelled. The connection sounded bad, it was crackling and popping. I ignored it. I was free! The voice began speaking again, but as soon as it started I heard a POP! and the broadcast went silent. All I heard was the alarm. I looked over my gray (I’m gray? Okay...) shoulder, and two stallions, one brown and one gray, burst out of the execution room coming after me. And holy fuck, they were going FAST! I’d never seen anypony move so fast! I studied the movement of their hooves as they approached, as little time as I had to do so. I’ve become very observant over these years, and just as they were about to grab my blue tail (my tail was blue?! Cool!) I began sprinting just as fast as they were. I stumbled slightly, but I regained my hooves and began going even faster than them. I could do it. I was free! I reached the end of the hallway and almost smacked into the wall, but I skidded to a stop just before crashing into it and headed down the hallway towards the one place in this building I had never, ever seen before. I heard a large slamming noise and a crack as the two bucks crashed into the wall, and each other. One of them moaned in pain, screaming about his leg. I continued down this mystery hallway, any features that may have been on the walls blurring past me. This place was entirely new to me - I had never explored anywhere new, everything had always been the same. But now, I could explore. The hallway took several winding turns, but never branched off anywhere. I don’t know why that is the case, but I didn’t care. My logical mind only knew one thing - if I hadn’t been here before, I wasn’t supposed to be here; and if I wasn’t supposed to be here, that meant freedom. The hallway finally ended in more glass doors. I burst through them, my horn (!!!) slamming onto the roof above it. I was a unicorn! Awesome! I was greeted by an enormous wide, open area with a sky all above me. It engulfed me, and I skidded to a stop, just to stare at it. Little specs of white twinkled across it, along with one large white disc. I could swear it looked like there was a mare on it... But the sound of smashing glass erupting behind me startled me, and I began to run again. Building after building passed by, all of them looking more or less the same. They were rather bland, white tiled cubes with barred windows, and a large metal door. That was the most variety I’d ever seen in a building, so I was fascinated. I weaved through the sides of these buildings, running down road after road, the entire world looking mostly the same. The sound of the alarm faded behind me, and eventually the buildings became more spaced out. Some of them looked rusty and abandoned, and cracks began showing on the road. I decided to stick to this road, my stamina finally catching up to me. I had to slow down, and take deep breaths. Doing so felt so good, even when my body was worked to or past its limit, it never got to rest. I slowly trotted down the road, until eventually a large gate towered in front of me, completely obscuring the view of any further. Except for one very small hole I noticed, almost behind a building squished against the gate. Maybe I could fit through there...

Chapter 1

That hole was a bitch to get through. First, I had to squeeze behind the dark corner of one of those bland houses, then I had to shimmy over to the hole, lay down awkwardly, and push myself through. I scraped my side on the way through, the gash somewhat deep and bleeding. Not as bad as past experiences, it will heal. The sight that awaited me on the outside was more shocking than everything so far. Old, dilapidated ruins of a once homey town stretched out to the horizon. It seemed strange that such a location would be immediately outside a gate into a large industrial city, although I assumed that they were too lazy to clear this place out, and didn’t think anypony would get out here anyway. Well, they were wrong. I walked down the pathway, looking into the buildings. Windows were smashed, doors lay on one hinge or broken off completely, and a very conveniently placed tumbleweed rolled across the street. Something made a large metallic scraping noise behind me, and I jumped. The roof of one of the buildings caved inward, sending a plume of dust outward in every direction. As it reached me, I began coughing. I had never coughed before, I wonder if it’s a bad thing? I finally had some time to think. I sat down against the wall of one of these buildings, the wood creaking from my weight. I thought back on what had just happened. Somehow, my receiver inside me had shorted out and stopped working. I was able to escape from the complex quite easily, despite all of the protocols put in place to prevent anypony from getting in...although they had never planned on anypony getting out. Surely any protection would work both ways, though, right? After escaping, I simply ran wherever I felt would hide me, eventually stumbling upon the gate. I noticed a hole almost completely concealed behind the wall of a house, and squeezed through it. So now, here I am. In such a small timeframe, so much happened. It was very peculiar how I was able to get out so easily, no doubt, but here I was. I finally truly understood what this meant. I was free. I could do anything. I could- “HEY!” A voice half-whispered at me. I jumped from my place, startled yet again. “Get in here, they’ll find you if you’re not careful!” I didn’t exactly know where “here” was. I had to speak to this pony. I had never spoke before. I had seen them do it on occasion, surely it wouldn’t be hard. “Whur ur yu?” I slurred. Talking was rather unfamiliar for me, I’d never spoken myself. “Are you drunk?! Walk towards my voice, dammit.” Well, it was coming from the right, but all I saw was a bush. Its brownish leaves mostly hung from the stems loosely. So that’s what a plant looked like... “Oh, for the love of Celestia. Get in here right now before we shoot you for meat.” Shoot? They had GUNS? I quickly obeyed, and walked directly into the bush. On the other side was an interesting sight. Debris and scraps had been carefully placed to form a tunnel, which turned to the right in front of me. This must have just looked like a pile of junk from the outside. A blue earth pony stuck his head from around the corner. His expression was very annoyed, but I was used to much worse than that. “Get in here, we can’t wait all day!” I followed obediently. Surely this buck wasn’t one of them. He actually seemed to care. The tunnel took several turns before ending in what looked like the base of a tree. Dead end. I was about to (try to) ask, but the buck just walked through it and it swayed like fabric. So they disguised the entrance... After walking in, a library greeted me. Books lay all around the floor around shelves which had fallen down. The walls were made of wood, and staircases branched in many directions off to different rooms. It was almost as if this was inside a tree...In the center of the book-filled room, there was a table. Behind the table sat an orange buck with a green, spiked mane. (How did my mane look?) He was tapping away at a laptop, and looked up as I stepped in.“And who is this? Almost looks like one of those mindless zombies they use for labor,” he said, His voice was very deep and gravelly. His face held a rather quizzical look.“I don’t know, but he sounds drunk.” the blue stallion responded. His mane was a lighter blue than his body, cut very short and flat on the top.“So tell me, mysterious wanderer, where did you come from and why are you here?” the orange buck asked me. I didn’t know what to say, what are the chances he’d believe me?“Definitely not a talkative one. Clearly from somewhere out here, though, don’t see any unicorns in the city walls. That is, other than the slave zombies.”...what?“You spoke before, Fury here told me. Are you actually drunk?” he continued.Luckily, I had been studying the movement of their mouth. I’d not had a proper experience to do so before, so now I was able to better assimilate myself with the process of talking.“I...I...no,” I stammered.“So where are you from?” he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.“In...in there,” I said, gesturing towards what I thought was the direction of the walls.“A unicorn? In the city? Nonsense! I think you really are drunk...”I began panicking. What was I supposed to say?!“It...it’s terrible in there. I couldn’t d- do anything...I just had to w- watch...” I said, trembling. Was this buck going to hurt me? I wasn’t exactly familiar with the social norms of the outside.“Watch what?” he asked. This interrogation was going very deep and personal.“I WAS ONE OF THEM!” I screamed, breaking down. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, BUT IT STOPPED! I ESCAPED!”“One of who?” Fury said from behind me, both of the bucks keeping straight faces.“THE SLAVES!” I yelled, and finally collapsed on the floor, sobbing. I hope they understood. They looked at eachother, then at me bawling pathetically on the floor.The blue stallion asked another question, “So you’re telling me you were one of the mindless zombies?”All I could do was nod.“So they’re not mindless?”“B- bodyless...not mindless,” I muttered after a few seconds. He sat idly and thought for a moment.“So they were controlling you?” he finally asked, apparently understanding.I took a deep breath, mostly calmed down. “Yes...”“That explains your lack of a cutie mark.”…?“Anyway, so how did you escape?”“I don’t know...all I know is the device that controls me stopped working.”He looked at me for a moment, then at my shoulder. He stared at it for a few seconds.“There’s a scar on your shoulder. Is that where it is?” he asked.I nodded.Fury turned towards the orange buck. “Rage? Take him to the operation table. Right shoulderblade, you’ll see the scar. Take whatever’s in there out of him. Should probably knock her out, might hurt a lot.”...what? What was he doing?“Before we start, do you have a name?” Rage asked.“...no.” I said quietly.“Do you want one?” he asked, seeming concerned for me?“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with a name yet. I still need to find out who I am.”He stared at me for a moment, taking in my answer. “Well, at least you aren’t stupid. Come here, I just need to inject you with this serum and you’ll go right to sleep. Shouldn’t hurt, the painful part will all happen while you’re sleeping.”I don’t know if that was reassuring or worrying. Not knowing what else to do, I trotted to him and he brought out a tube filled with a green liquid. He inserted a long, pointy needle at the end. That did not look like very much fun...then again, that’s probably the least menacing source of pain I’d seen in my life. So it was actually rather comforting, in a strange way.“Just stand still, close your eyes if you have to. This will only take a moment.”So I did. I felt a sharp prick near my neck, but then it was gone. Rage just stared at me. I was about to ask what he was doing that for when I blacked out.When I finally came back, I felt better than I ever had before. I actually had a peaceful sleep for once!"Well, the operation was a success," claimed Rage, "but there were some complications. "First off, when that receiver of yours died, the flesh around it burned. You'll need to rest, we have serums that can help, but they don't work immediately."I nodded."We were hoping we'd be able to study this receiver and try to figure out how it worked, but sadly yours was damaged beyond repair."I looked at him, studying his face. He had a scar running from his left cheek down to his neck. His eyes were yellow."I want to know about the outside world," I told him. He stared at me for a moment, looking sorry for me. So he explained. Many years ago, Equestria was free. Everypony in it was free to do as they wished. Technology began exploding, invention after invention coming day after day. Equestria was industrializing, and fast.One company, however, had decided they wanted more power. They were worth the most bits, more than any other company. Their products were found in almost every household, and seemingly no matter what they did, ponies always loyally bought their products.They always craved for more. They tried and tried to run other companies out of business, they bought them, sued them, sometimes even publicly humiliating them. But ultimately, it wasn't enough.Princess Celestia had been ruler for thousands of years. She noticed the company's strange behavior, and began to investigate. The company then slowed their malicious acts, taking them underground. They changed their name to Parasprite Technologies, or PT as they were often called. On the outside, it looked as if they turned a new leaf.Little did anypony know, however, PT was training assassins. Ponies began disappearing, but nopony was ever able to find whoever was behind it. They became the masters of assassination, taking out the leaders of rival companies, and others who stood in their way.Eventually, the clues were put together and it was almost obvious PT was behind it. But they could kill. Celestia lost an entire army to PT - after she heard that PT was behind the murders, she immediately hired many, many ponies into the military. All of them died in the end.And just as the last soldiers on the battlefield perished, Celestia herself stepped into the open field where the battle took place, and just stood there. So they shot her. It may have been suicide, but it didn't matter. PT was the new ruler, and they could do whatever the hell they wanted.Over time, they shaped society exactly how they wanted. All unicorns and pegasi (the 66%) were taken to become slaves. The earth ponies (the 33%) stayed behind, locked inside the city. They were fed very little, received very little social interaction, and weren't much better than slaves - they only left their house when there was work for them. At least they had free will.Now I'm not good with numbers. Turns out 33 and 66 together do not make 100. The remaining 1%? They're the rebels who live outside the walls. Including Rage and Fury. Those who didn't hide their bases as well were the ones being executed.I had to be careful, or I was next.

Chapter 2

Ruins

I had to rest on the operation table for almost 24 hours before I was allowed to walk again. That was the best time in my life. I never had a proper rest before, so finally getting the chance to have one was simply amazing. When I finally woke up, yet another interrogation followed. “I’m sorry we’re asking you so many questions, but we need this information. The knowledge you’ve given us so far is extremely valuable, and we intend on knowing as much as possible before the day ends. So let me ask you now, how did you manage to escape the city?” Fury asked me as I sat in a dusty red recliner back in the main room. I explained every detail I could remember starting from the moment I was freed from the prison up until now. They listened intently, Rage typing something on his laptop as I talked. As I drew to a close, the three of us just sat and pondered the recent events. “Well, the past is behind you. You’re one of us now,” Fury stated. “You’ll have to learn the rules of the Ruins. First off, this used to be a town called Ponyville. Don’t ask me why it’s not gone, you’d think such a location would be wiped off the face of Equestria as soon as PT got here. They left it here, even built a city almost inside it, but never bothered to destroy it.They know we’re here, and they certainly have the power to wipe us out. But they never do, they’re keeping us for a reason.” “You sure have thought this through,” I told him. “I’m sure ‘thinking things through’ is something you’re a master at by now,” Rage commented. I had to agree. Fury continued. “If you stumble upon the base of any other rebels, don’t go in, and under no circumstances should you take something that was claimed already. Find it in a pile of junk? Great, take it. But if it belongs to somepony, leave it. Don’t even touch it.” Simple enough. “Also, there’s no laws out here other than ‘don’t get caught’. That means that if somepony is really hungry, they won’t hesitate to shoot you and take your shit.” “Sorry to change the subject,” I interrupted, “but wouldn’t there be somewhere safer than right next to this city to call a home?” Rage answered this question. “PT has set up electric shock fields a little ways out from the perimeter of the city. Again, the fact we’re included in its area of ‘protection’ raises a lot of suspicion. Basically, nopony gets in, nopony gets out...except PT workers.” Fury continued with his instructions. “A gun is essential. We have some spare pistols, but that’s not very helpful when many ponies want you dead. You’ll have to go scavenge around to find anything with enough firepower to kill a parasprite.” “Parasprite?” I asked. “Small bug. Multiplies. Eats everything. Annoys the shit out of you. Fairly easy to kill, however,” he answered, “if you have a half-decent firearm.” I spent even more time pondering what had been discussed. I’d been doing that a lot today. “Seems rather simple,” I said. “The only real danger is being caught by somepony. If you’re stealthy enough, there doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about.” “Well, I suppose so,” Fury said skeptically. “Are you sure there aren’t any, well, mutant monsters?” I continued. “Nope.” “Deadly contagious diseases?” “Nothing deadly.” “Monsters that want me dead?” “Not inside the border.” “Friends?” I asked conclusively. This came as a surprise to both Fury and Rage. Rage looked up from the laptop and stared at me, curious about my comment. “There’s no real friendship anymore,” Rage said in his gravelly voice with a deep sigh. “All of it died when the Elements of Harmony disappeared. No reason to have friends when there’s no reason to live. We just keep on living because we go on, day after day, hoping we can make the world better again. It will never happen.” I was about to ask about the Elements of Harmony, but I’d absorbed so much in one day I thought it was time to do something. “Don’t give up so easily,” I said encouragingly. “Nothing’s going to happen if you don’t try to make it happen.” “You sure are determined for somepony who’s been locked away for so long,” Fury muttered. While that wasn’t meant as an insult, it stung inside me. “What do you think I did in there? Went braindead? I can assure you now that if I was braindead, they would kill me as soon as they noticed. Which wouldn’t be long. I imagined ways somepony would be able to save us to keep myself busy. And they were always a brave, courageous hero that was seemingly invincible. Don’t crush my dreams,” I told them. Well, they weren’t exactly dreams, but there wasn’t much of a difference. “Are you telling me you’ve learned many hard lessons about life skills, and become a freakishly observant mastermind just by being tortured your entire life, with no way to fight back?” Rage half-yelled. I blushed. “Well, uhh, I don’t know...” “Do you know what this means? You were able to learn to run in ten seconds flat, and you spotted a pony-sized hole that led to as much freedom as you can get that nopony has seen for hundreds of years!” He was yelling at this point. “You are just what we need to save us! You can bring the world back! You are the one!” I looked at my hooves, my cheeks flaming red. “Now don’t you think that’s...a bit generous?” I whispered, embarrassed at the sudden (and rather loud) praise. Rage finally calmed down enough to talk at a normal volume. “Really, that’s an understatement. But you’ll need training if you want to survive. I imagine you’re not good with stealth, since you’re used to marching around in the open, announcing your presence to everypony.” I had to agree. I must say, the amount of intelligence and logic in this conversation was really getting us somewhere. How long till something fucks up? Fate answered: not long. Fury had been walking up the creaky stairs towards the operation table, slipped, and fell of the sides - the railing had rotted off years ago. A large crack sounded from him, along with a moan of pain. “Am I psychic?!” I said, not intending for it to be out loud. “Er...are you?” Rage asked, confused. “I...uh...nevermind.” I muttered. “Are you going to help him?” “Oh, that would make sense, wouldn’t it?” Rage stated, looking embarrassed at his lack of immediate action. He grabbed a medical supplies box from the one shelf still standing, and trotted over to Fury. Fury moaned in pain. My mane was starting to itch from boredom. I was free now, I wanted to go do something. I’d been spending so much time speculating and preparing in here, wasting precious minutes. I wanted to explore, now that I finally could. “This will be a while,” said Rage from across the room. “Just stay in here. There’s drinks in the fridge, although they may be rather warm.” Drinks? Sure! Stay here? Absolutely not! I walked to the fridge, opened it with my mouth and was greeted by several aluminum cans. I grabbed a green one, and stared at it. How do I open it? I heard a sigh from behind me. “Pull the tab on the top upwards,” Rage said, annoyed. I set the can on the floor, held it between my hooves, and pulled the tab up as he told me. The can made a loud POP! and began to fizz. I raised the can and looked in the hole, tilting it too far and spilling sticky green soda all over me. Gross."There's a towel in the bathroom. Next time, don't waste precious drinks." Rage said, clearly fed up with my stupidity, still working on the moaning Fury. I walked in the direction he pointed, finding a room with a toilet, sinks, and a towel. I had never gone to the bathroom on my own before, but I felt that familiar urge and relieved myself. I wiped my face with the towel, fumbling it awkwardly between my hooves. I was not good at holding things.I was making my way out back into the main room. Predictably, Rage was still working on Fury.“Something wrong?” I asked.“This leg was twisted badly. It’ll take weeks to heal,” Rage responded. Fury moaned after hearing the news.“Okay...I’ll just lay here...on this couch...doing nothing,” I lied. It was mandatory he did not know anything about what I was about to do.“I know what you’re going to do. I’m not blind, you know. You’ll get yourself killed out there. You need proper training, so you know how to survive. I doubt anypony would stay hidden long without knowing the rules of the road,” he sternly explained.I was about to complain, but all of the sudden the most painful headache I’d ever experience came over me. I let out a loud groan and fell onto the floor.“Oh, don’t tell me you’re hurt too,” Rage moaned. Fury also moaned.I didn’t hear. I was in pain. All I could feel, think, or know was pain. I couldn’t see, hear, smell, or feel anything but pain. Don’t know if I was screaming, or if I was unconscious. All I know is there was pain.

Bob Likki:

Ohai

Anonymous:

Hallo

Chapter 3
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Ripples

Chapter 3

Memory

I woke up. When did I wake up? I have no idea. I didn’t remember anything. Nothing at all. I don’t remember my name, where I am from, nothing. All I know was it was important. There are ponies here. They were talking to me. Who are they? Why am I here?

My vision came into focus. An orange pony, green spiky mane. He looked concerned. He was holding me.“Hello? Are you awake?” he asked me, a large amount of concern in his voice.“Who are you?” I asked weakly.“...Rage...you know my name,” he said, a look of confusion on his face.“I don’t think I do,” I said and sat up from the floor. “Mind telling me who I am?”Rage stared at me for a moment, almost looking sorry for me.“Fury, he’s up. Please tell me you can talk now, I think we have a problem,” he finally yelled over his shoulder.“...I’m fine...but it hurts like hell,” a voice sounded from somewhere nearby.“Good,” Rage responded. “Seems like we have severe amnesia. Not a good thing. I don’t know of any cures for amnesia, do you?” Rage asked.“...eenope,” Fury responded.“Wonderful. We could have used some more information,” Rage muttered.“Excuse me? Information?” I asked, not following the conversation.“Ugh, I’m going to have to explain everything again? Plus your own goddamn story?” Rage whined.“Er, guess so,” I responded. He then helped me on my hooves and walked me to a very comfortable couch. I laid down, thankful for the soft texture, as he explained everything that had happened.I couldn’t believe it. I was part of that? The world was that bad? Everything sounded terrible until he told me about me. He saved that for last.It was devastating. I had gone through that? That was my fate? I felt so sorry for myself, glad to be free, until he told me about my personality. I was smart? I didn’t feel smart. I felt like a complete retard, I forgot everything. I couldn’t believe it. I sounded like a genius, the savior of us all. I sounded like a god.All of that was gone. I just knew, somehow, I wasn’t going to get that back. And the worst part? I could have helped them. Saved them with my knowledge of the workings of PT. I mean, I knew everything, right? Saw everything that happened, everywhere? Knew everything? It was gone. I was hopeless. I was just another survivor now...no. Not even that. I was a newborn that somehow could talk. That’s all I am. I am worthless. I can’t do anything. I let them down, I should have told them everything. Every single thing I knew. But it’s too late.I was crying. Bawling. Rage tried to comfort me, talk to me, even massage me. There is no point. I just want to curl up and die.“Just...leave me. I’m no help anymore,” I finally yelled. “I’m leaving. I’m going out there, and I’m going to march right up to PT and tell them to take me back! I quit! I. FUCKING. QUIT!”I ran out the door as fast as I could. They couldn’t stop me. The strange entrance took several turns, and let out at a bush. The bush scratched my flank, cutting a shallow gash across it. I didn’t care, I deserve this pain.I found the wall. The giant, fucking white wall. The barrier between slavery and not-slavery. It wasn’t freedom. Freedom doesn’t exist anymore. Nopony is free. Not even me.I walked along the wall, looking for the hole I apparently slipped through. I looked behind bushes, followed the wall in both directions, but nothing. How did I find it? Hell if I know. I was about to give up until I stumbled on something, My hoof found its way to a small hole in the ground. Was this it? Rage didn’t tell me it was in the ground...I tried squeezing through. It was too small. I wouldn’t fit. Fuck this world and everything in it. I just wanted to end this right here, right now. I stomped near the hole in an attempted march in the other direction, but the ground slid from under my hoof into the hole. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, my hoof dangling over the now-enlarged hole. Fuck this place. Can’t I just know something, learn something smart?Inside the hole was a pathway. It was very steep, but just not enough to make it intraversible. I had nothing better to do, so I went in.It got very dark. I stumbled on stray pebbles and rocks several times, but never fell. I couldn’t see, but the tunnel kept going. It almost felt as if it were getting flatter. Eventually, after a long, long walk, lights burst on to reveal a room before me, just as I emerged from the tunnel, now almost perfectly straight.The room was full of machinery, computers, and various electrical gadgets on shelves. Everything looked like it had been left running for years, covered in dust and cobwebs. None of these devices made any sense to me, but they sure as hell looked cool.I walked down rows and rows of this machinery. Occasionally, a screen laid in a small indentation in the wall. Whatever it was saying, didn’t make sense. Something about magic arcane barrier energy generators...the hell does that mean?Just as I was about to step away, I noticed something below the screen. There was a little red switch, currently pressed to the upward setting with a light blinking next to it. A label below read “POWER”.Could it really? No, I couldn’t...but...I could fuck up everything...wait. I could fuck up everything! THANK YOU! I began laughing maniacally, and pressed the switch. Many machines made a whirring noise, and slowed to a stop, Many spinning devices stopped spinning, screens turned off, and only one light remained in the entire room. A large lever, labeled “CITY WALLS”. Even better!Obviously, I pulled it. My job was done. I saved everypony. I did it, I-A loud crash sounded overhead. Screams could be heard even from all the way down here. And a stampede of hooves. And yelling, mostly the word “FREEDOM!!!”Thank you. Thank you, I sat down against the wall which the lever rested on, and began to fall asleep at the sound of the stomping hooves above. The doing of me. I saved them. I wasn’t worthless...I was almost sleeping until a mare’s voice yelled from the opening. I couldn’t tell what she said, but it startled me awake. The lights were back on, but extremely dim and flickering slightly. In the doorway stood the most beautiful pink mare I had ever seen.

Chapter 4
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Chapter 4

NOTICE:

As a part of the Rewrite & Revise Project, my good friend Captain has assisted me in the revising of this chapter. He has been a tremendous help, and I am very proud of the improvements made to this chapter. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

Chapter 4

The Escape

I don’t know how long I was standing there. But holy crap, she was amazing. I’d never felt that way about anypony before in my li- A blue buck stepped out from behind her, standing oddly close to her. Celestia fucking dammit. “Hello? Anypony in here?” she called into the dark room. Her voice was so beautiful, almost like a song of angels...Well, not much else to do, so I stood up. “...I’m here,” I said awkwardly, staring at her. “What is this place?” she asked, turning to face me. “Since everypony was being so violent when the gates opened, we found this hole and decided to stay here ‘till everypony left.” I glanced awkwardly toward the lever. “Uh...well...no idea...I don’t even know why I’m here, what am I doing here? What’s down here? Am I los-” She interrupted me, “You sure are being defensive...is there something I should know...?” She glanced toward the lever I had so graciously pulled a few minutes ago. She looked at me. Then the lever. Then at me again. Both her and her...partner’s...eyes lit up and expanded far more than what should be possible. Both of them galloped straight at me and locked me into a giant hug. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!” she screamed, her...mate...laughing hysterically. Then he started talking, “Do you have any idea how terrible it was?”Well, I did...dammit. I am going to kill this buck. “We’ve dreamed of this moment our whole lives! How did you get out here? Is there anypony else out here? How did you find this room? Who are you?” He asked, not stopping to let me speak.“I can’t even remember half those questions...” I muttered. “Oh...I’m sorry,” he said. Yeah, sure, real sorry.The mare spoke again, “Never mind him. Just tell us, what’s your name?”Of course she fucking asked that. I started, “I don’t...have...”“NO WAIT! Let me guess!” she screamed. “Golden Hero?” I shook my head.“Savior?” No.“Burning Hero?”I stared at her, questioning her sanity.“Well, uh, no, but-”“WAIT I’VE ALMOST GOT IT! It’s, uhh...” she pondered for a moment. “...it’s...not anything with Hero in it...it’s not Savior...it can’t possibly be Loste-”“Yes,” I finally said, trying to shut up the now not-so-desirable mare. And to think I was attracted to her... “...wait, it IS Loste?” she asked, astonished. “...uh, I guess so...” I murmured. Fits well...considering my situation. She giggled awkwardly. “Lucky guess, I suppose.” Sure it was... The blue stallion finally spoke up, “This is getting awkward...can we please get out now? I want to see the rest of the beautiful world we’ve been locked away from.” He looked somewhere behind me, with a longing expression on his face. “Singing animals, dancing plants, beautiful rainbows, and-” The mare interrupted, with an annoyed but slightly amused look. “We get it, Fading Hope.” “Fine, Lost Cause.” Wow, whoever named them sure didn’t sound happy. Well, then again, neither was I, I doubt anypony could be happy. Not anymore. He spoke up again. “Sooooo...are we going or not?” Fading Hope and Lost Cause looked at me, then each other. The two exchanged consenting glances before sprinting back out of the tunnel at maximum speed, leaving me coughing in a cloud of dust. I slowly followed those two back through the tunnel. It occurred to me I still didn’t have a proper understanding of how I looked. I also spent the walk back up wondering what my personality was like. Sincere? Malevolent? Intelligent? I have no idea who I really am. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. When I finally reached the top and squeezed back out of that strange hole, the mare and her...friend?...weren’t anywhere in sight. Nopony was. One huge thing stuck out, however: the entire wall around the city was gone. Nowhere to be seen, just an open work camp. The only thing that was noteworthy was the Citadel in the center.It was an intimidating structure. It was surrounded by an immense black wall, with four turrets mounted on each of the four corners. A colossal tower rose in the center, ending with a flat roof housing more mounted turrets. Very few windows could be seen on the wall facing me, and the only two that were visible were tinted black. It was unsettling, as if the building itself wanted me dead.This had been the place they had kept me and countless other ponies as slaves. Various unicorn and pegasus ponies trotted around it; their faces holding blank expressions, and their trots perfectly in sync with each other. It was sickening to watch, like they weren’t even alive. Just the shell of a pony... Each and every one of them had a real, living pony inside... somewhere. I am the only proof of that terrible existence. But more importantly, how had I endured it? Who would do such a thing to poor, innocent foals? I was almost glad to have it erased from my memory. What kind of damage had that done to me? I resolved not to think on the subject and return to the matter at hand.I began my journey away from the city. I was free, and while that doesn’t mean much to me now...it’s important. Those ponies desperately wanted what I came to have. I don’t believe I will be able to help them, but they envy me. I see it in their eyes, even through the thick veil of their control. They’ve wanted it for a long time...

Chapter 5
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Chapter 5

YET ANOTHER AUTHOR’S NOTE

Okay, actually, I’m kidding. Just wanted to say: yes, I know I have an overabundance of author’s notes. Just remember this: I’m bored, I’m crazy, and I’m slightly insane. This should be the last for a while, as long as I can control mysPINKIE PIE WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOU-ahem, uh, sorry.- WinCamXP, 1/87/94, 54:82QM

CHAPTER 5

The outside world

Outside was...different. I wasn't used to the open space...then again, I wasn't really used to anything. The grass was a dull beige, the sky had many clouds. Rocks dotted the landscape, and the only things I could see was a really creepy looking forest in one direction, mountains in another, and...I won't think about it. It's quite literally behind me now. I just have to walk. There was a group of four or five ponies walking towards the mountains. Two were only children, and were bouncing in joy. I was happy for them. But myself? I don't know.I suppose walking towards the open field between the mountains and forest wasn't too bad an idea. I began walking. It was a very long walk, quite uneventful. The only thing that I found of any importance was the amazing creatures I saw. Majestic flying things flew in large groups overhead, small animals scurried around in the grass. Every time I tried to approach them, however, they would run away. Could they talk? Were they scared? I didn't know.I began getting hungry along my walk. What did I like to eat? I really don't know. I was about to head into the nearby forest (this one not nearly as ominous as that last one) when I spotted something in the distance. It was to my left, against the mountains. I couldn't have seen this before, it was too far around the mountain. The strange sight was much too far to make any sense of, but it didn't look like it was part of the landscape. For a lack of anywhere else to go, I started walking towards it. You know, this walking shit is really boring. I had no idea what I did before...it...happened, but it sounded a lot worse than this. I didn't remember it, though, so I couldn't make an accurate comparison. Fuck amnesia.Well, I walked. And walked. The strange form started taking shape, forming...buildings? No...I thought...what? But how? Granted, they didn’t look very fancy, but...how? I walked ever closer. Why must walking be so monotonous and boring? My legs got more and more sore with each step. I try not to think about it. Nope. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch OH JUST FUCKING GET THERE ALREAD-I slammed face-first into the side of one of the buildings, falling over onto the ground and adding to my collection of painful body parts. A big crash sounded from the other side of this strange flimsy metal wall, sending shattering pain into my eardrums. Will this ever end?“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE?!” a very strong, masculine-sounding voice boomed from inside, further torturing my eardrums. Something slammed near the side of the building, amplifying my searing headache. I could barely see as my vision was very blurry, but an enormous black pony stepped from the side of the house. He almost looked angry, but how am I supposed to tell when I have a throbbing headache while laying in the dirt on my side?“Another one of you fucking retards? How many of you are there?” he asked very harshly. All I could manage was “Unnnngh”.“Wake up, dammit. Who are you?” he yelled, clearly not happy with my lack of response."Loste," I finally managed."I said who are you, I know you're fucking LOST!""My name is Loste," I told him."Hmph. Fitting," he commented. "So what brings you to my town? Because we barely have enough food to feed ourselves, hardly any ammo for the few weapons we have, and nopony gives two shits about us."I finally got to my hooves. "Well, I suppose you can say I really am lost...""Wonderful. Well, you and all your annoying friends better high-tail it outta here before anypony else gets mad, because we don't take nicely to visitors," he told me."They're not my friends," I told him."Well then who the fuck are they?" He asked, clearly rather mad."I don't fucking know!" I yelled."Well where did you come from?!" He yelled back."Over that way!" I screeched, pointing a hoof towards the side of the mountain I came from."You're fucking with me. Nopony lives in that abandoned city, especially not after what happened, oh, a hundred years ago? I thought I heard a while back it has some kind of magic barrier and shit that kills on contact. We're the closest settlement to it because there's nowhere else we can live for miles." he explained.I remembered what happened very clearly...it was all I remembered."Well, let's just say it isn't exactly abandoned," I said. "And I think I may have something to do with our sudden arrival..."He looked at me doubtfully for a moment, and continued, "So tell me. Why the hell would anypony live exactly where the Great Fucking-Up originated?"I put off the 'Great Fucking-Up' in my bin of things to think about later, and retorted. "Because maybe we had no choice?""Did your grandparents get stuck in there or something?" he continued questioning."I think Parasprite Technologies got stuck in there, along with countless slaves!" I yelled, furious at his doubt. Wait, were they actually stuck? Another thing in the bin.“Are you fucking with me?” he asked, still not convinced.“Why would I? What do I have to gain by making up stories?” I retaliated.He pondered for a moment. “To make others pity you and give you free shit?”“I never asked for anything.”He stared at me for a moment. “Hmph. Well, what are we gonna do about you retards? There’s nothing to feed you and nowhere close by to go.”I looked at the nearby forest. Could you get food in forests? More crap in the bin. “Any food in that forest?”“I...n...well, uh, I don’t know...” he stammered.“So you live right next to a pretty big forest, and you’ve never gone inside it?” I questioned."Well, uh, you see, nopony though it was safe-""Safe? What's scaring you, uh, birds?" I interrupted. What would live in a forest? Hell if I know. Bin item number 4.He paused, clearly stunted by my reasoning (could you call that reasoning?)."Well, if it's so safe, then why don't you go get us some goddamn food?" he asked. I didn't ask for this..."I...uh, okay..." I hesitantly accepted. What, how was I supposed to disagree?"Well, then get the fuck out there!" he said, stomping his hoof."N- now?" I asked, confused by the sudden-ness of the situation."Yes, now!""You could ask a little more nicel-""I. Said. NOW!" he screamed, turned around and delivered a blow to my face with his hind legs that hurt more than anything I could remember. I flew fifty feet minimum, and landed outside the town thing, skidding to a stop. I scraped my sides, and my leg was bleeding. I got the first good look at the town thing. Five rusty shacks made from metal sheets, bricks and other assorted crap stood haphazardly in a circle against the mountain. In the center was a rusty old bench missing two legs, and an orange earth pony was sitting on it, looking around with a confused expression. I heard a bang from one of the buildings, and a yellow unicorn bolted out of the door, hiding behind the next building. Seemed like a nice town. At least they were free...The thought sent a shudder down my spine. I didn't even remember it, but somehow I still felt some pain from it. Like I remembered a single feeling from before...pain. Torture. This was the first sign of anything from the old me being left over. It hurt.I shook myself, and then turned around to enter the forest. It wasn't too big, I could see either end in the distance. It almost looked inviting, like it wanted me. I walked in.Nature stretched around me like nothing I had ever seen before. Insects crawled the trees, animals made strange noises, small creatures scurried around my hooves. This seemed somehow eerily peaceful, in a strange, unknown kind of way. I walked further inward. A river flowed through the forest, cutting off my travels. A fallen tree bridged the gap, which was oddly convenient. I trotted over and put a hoof on it. It creaked and groaned. Maybe that isn't such a great idea...I followed the river away from the log. A bird flew right by me, blowing wind in my face. My stomach growled, fiercely this time. I needed to find that food. After following the strange river, I found a patch of bushes. On the bushes were strange pink balls, some fallen on the ground and decaying. Was this food? I caught a glance at a woodland creature running away with one, just before it ran behind a tree. Was it really this easy? Surely there would be some kind of danger, right? Evil beasts defending the food? Rabid forest animals? Sentient, evil, thorny plants? Nothing seemed to want to kill me, so I bent down and grabbed one of the pink things in my mouth.Yum. All I can say is yum. The sweetness flooded my mouth, sending feelings of pure joy down my throat. I chewed and swallowed, unable to wait for more. I had already ate four more when I heard a shout."DIE, FUCKER!!" it shouted. A large bang sounded, pounding my eardrums. Another voice responded."THEN GIVE BACK OUR FUCKING LEADER!" it yelled.Another bang, this one closer. I heard rustling nearby, and I dived into the bush of heaven and looked out. It was itchy in here. I also began feeling a sneeze. Suddenly, a blue unicorn flew out of the bushes nearby. Blood stained his face, his body dotted with bloody holes. His hair was brown with orange streaks. The sneeze was inching ever closer...not good...He noticed the strange food, and reached quickly to grab some. Just as he was preparing to run off, the sneeze unleashed and made him jump. He looked into the bushes, into my eyes.“And who the fuck might you be?” he asked. “You don’t have no scars like them Goddess-damned rebels, and I can’t tell while you’re in a bush but I don’t see their branding on you anywhere.”“WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO?!” a very angry voice yelled from nearby. Rebels...? Bin item five.The buck hurriedly continued, “Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got some really persistent rebels after my tail, so I should get goi-”“THERE YOU ARE!” the voice interrupted, even closer this time. Another sharp boom sounded, and red sprayed from somewhere on Anti-Rebel’s flank, causing him to whimper in pain. I stayed hidden, holding my breath.“So, thought you’d stop and get somethin’ to eat? Retard!” said the same voice, and a red earth pony buck walked up to the blue one. “Wait ‘till Captain hears about you and yer little hunting mission!” he said with a grin. He bent over to his side, and withdrew some strange L-shaped metal thing in his mouth.“Please,” the anti-rebel buck whimpered. “I have a family!”“Well, they probably won’t see ya again, doesn’t stop them from bein’ yer family.” the red buck said, muffled by the metal thing. He pointed it somewhere near Anti-Rebel’s legs, and did something with his mouth that made it go ‘boom’ again, making Anti-Rebel scream and my ears ring. He repeated this three more times, followed by more screaming and ear-ringing.“I’ll just leave ya here, nopony comes in this forest, them Ashrus ponies are too stupid to even look for food...no wonder they’re starvin’,” the rebel commented, delivered a kick to Anti-Rebel’s flank, and promptly trotted away.What did he do to him? I waited a few minutes, in case they came back. They didn’t, so I slowly crawled out of the bush. I am so itchy right now.Anti-Rebel coughed. “Why are you...still here?” he said, his voice raspy and feeble.“What was I supposed to do? Run out here and...” I looked at the holes all over his legs. “...get hurt really bad?”He coughed again. “Fair enough.” He let out yet another long, wet cough. “Please, bandage these wounds.” Another cough. “Th...those leaves should...be...fine” He wheezed, looking at the bushes.“Well, I’m not exactly trained in medical care, but I’ll do the best I can,” I said. I tore a mouthful of leaves from the food bush thing, and gently put the pile on one of the holes, and began walking to get more.“No, you...idiot,” he rasped. “Tie them...” With what, exactly? I returned to the bush, looking for something to tie it down with. How do you tie something? I’ll find out. I found a long, thin branch, and yanked it. As it pulled free, it tore a gash across my cheek, spurting blood. I let out a whimper. I dragged it over to his body, and set the branch on the pile of leaves on his leg. I tucked its sides under his leg, but he coughed again and it fell off.“You’re...h- hopeless...” he stated.“Not disagreeing with you there,” I stated flatly.“Just get... the fuck out of here, let me die,” he wheezed, and let out a long raspy sigh.“Well, uh, if that’s what you want,” I said, quizzical as to his eagerness to give up and die. I had just turned around to leave. Yet another very loud voice sounded nearby.“The hell? Who are you?!” it yelled, followed by another one of those sharp bangs and pain exploding in my right flank. Fuck, that hurt! I turned my head towards the voice, and I saw three ponies. Two were covered in silver metal armor, obscuring almost all of their features. The one in between them was gray with green eyes, and his hair was short, a rusty orange with green tips. He looked mad...but not at me.“You idiot, don’t shoot until we know who they are!” he yelled at the guard to his left. The guard flinched back, whispered something too quiet to hear, and then ran off. The other guard sighed. The gray pony walked over towards me.“Looks like you have an injured Resistor. Did you do this?” he said, motioning towards the anti-rebel buck.I shook my head. My flank was burning right now.“Didn’t think so, you don’t look like a rebel...actually, you look awfully clean, aside from that gash on your face,” he observed, studying me. I finally noticed what he was. He had wings. A pegasus?! How? ...actually, were pegasi normal? I haven’t seen one, but that doesn’t say much...bin thingy six.“Are you lost?” He asked. I nodded. The...Resistor coughed. I’m going to need some explanation. Like, a lot. Resistors? Rebels? Does this have anything to do with PT? Bin items number 7, 8, and 9, I suppose. It’s a complex of confusing topics!He stared for a moment, and grunted. “Come with me.” He turned around and began walking back the way he came. He kicked the Resistor as he passed by him, unleashing a groan of pain. I began following him and his guard through the forest. As we were walking, he said, “Call me Captain.”

Chapter 6
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Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Captain

Rage and Fury walked over a large, barren field. They had been walking for five hours, equipped with packages of food and drinks. No discernible land formations or structures were visible for miles.

“Why did we even fucking leave? Which way is home?” Rage complained. “Calm down, my pre-Event map says Appleoosa was this way. I don’t know if anypony managed to escape PT’s rule, or if anypony who did survived, but this is the nearest settlement to Ponyville,” Fury explained. “It’s our only hope.” “Answer my question,” Rage continued. “Why couldn’t we just stay there and enjoy the comfort of familiarity? Now that the gates are open and the forcefield’s down, everypony’s gone. We can take all of their shit for ourselves!” Fury shot him an annoyed look. “All that would be left there is us and PT. And they have an army of slave unicorns and pegasi under their control, and now they can send them wherever the hell they want. I don’t know if they can tap into a unicorn’s magic, but if so, we would be killed, enslaved, tortured, or something. Even without unicorn magic, I know they could still manage.” “We know nothing about the outside world aside from some extremely outdated maps and old books. Everything else is deteriorated beyond repair! How will we survive?” Rage whined. “Look, just think about it this way - we’re free. We can leave. We’re set for a while, we have food and water. We just have to find civilization, or the inhabitable remains of it, and we’ll be fine.” Fury concluded. He kicked a rock with his hoof, sending it rolling off to the east. “What’s that?” he asked. “What?” Rage asked, annoyed. “Over there,” Fury said and pointed with his hoof. A large splotch of brown and black was visible in the distance, near the horizon. Rage looked at the direction Fury was pointing. “Is that Appleoosa?” “I think so, although it looks like the apple orchard died or something. We must have offset our direction,” Fury responded. “Which means more walking...at least we know where to, though.”

~ ~ ~

“...and that’s all I know,” I concluded my explanation of my life, or what I could remember of it. We had been walking for almost an hour, and were approaching the edge of the forest. Captain had some medical bandages for my bullet wound, and gave me a healing potion (it tasted like those berries). “That’s probably the most interesting thing that’s happened since, well, PT!” Captain exclaimed. “While I’m not exactly happy that they still exist, I must say it’s quite boring, living in Equestria nowadays. It’s all struggling communities who need food this, water that, protection here, help there, nopony can help themselves. Then we have the Resistance. They’re a bunch of fucktards who claim they’re descended from royalty. Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me, but they’ve got an enormous army, lots of guns, and plans to take over what’s left of Equestria as the new rulers.” “Sounds like PT might complicate that,” I observed. “Also doesn’t help that their HQ is in what used to be Appleoosa, which is very close to Ponyville,” Captain said, looking worried. “Anyway, the reason they’re so full of crap is they think everything needs to be managed by the government. They used to be just an elite group of nobles, they had so many luxuries nopony else did. But then they began to crave power, they wanted absolute control. Control over all of our money, our businesses, our organizations and projects, all of it. They want to watch, regulate, and control everything.” “Well, isn’t that better than what’s happening right now?” I asked. “It robs us of our freedom. We’re not independent anymore, it’s like we’re slaves,” Captain responded. I could argue with that, but I don’t want to start an argument or anything. “The Rebellion, on the other hand, wants to stop them. We may not be as organized or powerful, but we can fight. We don’t exactly want to rule Equestria ourselves, but we don’t agree with the Resistance’s plans either,” Captain continued. “They’re called the Resistance simply because we, the Rebellion, were formed as soon as word got out they were plotting something. They couldn’t even come up with a name, everypony just labeled them as ‘Resistance’, because they’re defending their position while we’re attacking it. They want their own name, but nopony wants to call them anything else for some reason.” I processed what he said. “But once they’re stopped, assuming they will be, what happens?” Captain looked at the sky. “We find a leader. It won’t be us, but it will be somepony noble, capable of running a nation. Somepony with courage, strength, and reasoning. We’ll work with them to make the perfect new government, we just have to find that somepony.” “So how are you involved in this? And I think I heard one of your soldiers say something about you earlier?” I asked. “Oh, don’t mind them. Most of our infantry aren’t really devoted to the Rebel cause, they’re mostly in it to shoot stuff. We only use them because they’re really good at fighting. Like, scary good. They’re a bit stupid, though, so they don’t exactly realize we’re using them so we can get more important stuff done. Doesn’t help our outward image, though.” Captain explained. “And me? Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I just so happen to be the leader of the Rebellion.” My jaw dropped. That explains the guards. “So what were you doing in that forest? Nothing’s around here except that one starving city, whatever their name was.” “Ashrus,” Captain corrected. “You see, the Resistors are setting up little camps and forts all over Equestria. They keep trying new strategies to keep hidden, this time it was putting it deep in a forest nowhere near anything important. We just so happen to have a spy stationed in Ashrus, however, who patrols at night. He noticed strange ponies deep in the forest, and reported to me as quick as possible. Turns out they built a fort out of bushes, logs, leaves, and sticks. We scared them out and took everything important, you just witnessed one of our soldiers taking out the last survivor.” I thought for a moment. “Do you really have to kill them?” Captain sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to. But the Resistors are extremely persistent. They have advanced medical care, and more soldiers than you can imagine. If we let them all run off, then they’d know exactly how we found them and where we were. Sometimes, they have transmission devices, so we make sure to take them out as fast as possible, and then leave the area before any backup can get there.” “So, is anypony winning?” I queried. “Not really,” Captain said with another sigh. “We just keep on fighting, day after day, hoping that someday we can make the world a better place. It doesn’t look like the world is on our side, but giving up is never the way to win.” I had been skeptical, but Captain’s words just now really changed my opinion of this conflict. We just passed out of the forest after a long walk, and emerged on a dirt road heading over the horizon. “Do I really have to walk that far?” I asked, exhausted. “Why can’t I have wings?” “Well, uh, there’s something I should tell you,” Captain said, nervous. “I suppose what you told me means this isn’t exactly true, but I have always been raised knowing I was the last pegasus in existence.” He ruffled his feathers. I stopped walking and stared at him, mouth open. “I...you...last...wings...WHAT?!” I stammered. Captain blushed. “I think that’s part of the reason I’m not dead yet...although based on your description, all of the other pegasi are enslaved within their bodies, much like you were?” “I...well...um...yeah,” I muttered. “So, uh...what’s it like, being...you know...?” “...Different,” Captain responded. “Every time I walk in public, ponies stare at me. Some want to meet me, some run and hide. Most of them want to keep me alive, hoping to keep the pegasi race alive, and the rest are usually nopony important or powerful enough to get close to killing me.” “Most?” I observed. “Yeah...the one exception being the leader of the Resistance. Nopony knows who he is, he does an amazing job of disguising himself. Voice changer, no cameras, magic cancellation fields, everything. But he always makes it known that he wants me dead. Most of his broadcasts are anti-Captain this, anti-Rebel that. They have radios established in all the major cities and many small town of Equestria. They used to belong to PT, but the Resistance was able to hack into them.” Captain explained. “Actually, that makes me wonder, since they still exist...” We were quiet for the remainder of the walk. I had a lot to think about, so the silence was welcome. We passed over a river on an old rickety bridge, went over some ancient railroad tracks (Captain explained what they did. Holy crap, that sounds cool!), and eventually ended in some form of military encampment. A large city lay in the distance. “That city over that way is Fillydelphia. And this is the Rebellion’s main military encampment, most of our troops are training, preparing, or stationed here when they’re not on a mission,” Captain told me. “We chose the outskirts of Fillydelphia because their remaining population is strongly anti-Resistance. They’ll support us if we need it, and in exchange for their help we feed them and give them protection. We make sure to keep them very heavily screened, though, in case there’s any spies.” Captain continued. “So why are we here?” I asked, still clueless. “Well, where else do I take you? You have no home, no experience in the real world, no knowledge of Equestria’ past or present, you’re honestly kind of stupid. I believe that after some very extensive lecturing, we can train you as a soldier to prepare you for the wastes. I plan on recruiting you for more...special operations after your training is over, however. That is, unless you don’t want to.” Captain explained. I’m not used to having a say in anything. Having choices. Knowing things. Should I do it? “I...I think I want to do this,” I decided. “I don’t think there’d be any better opportunity to learn how to survive or fight.” “I like your thinking,” Captain responded. “I congratulate you for your courage.” “Thanks! Although, one last thing,” I said. “Why haven’t you asked any questions about my past? You just listened, then talked about your own situation. Don’t you need some insider info? I couldn’t have explained everything.” Captain thought for a moment. “I believe all of this will be revealed in time. You’ve had quite the day, I suppose, and I think the first thing you need is rest. Come with me, I have a very comfortable couch in my tent.”

Chapter 7
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Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Mission

“What is this?” I asked, looking at an enormous black structure pointing outwards from the base.

“That would be a turret. Would you like to see it fire?” Captain said with a grin. “...fire?” I asked, skeptical to his offer. He then galloped into the chair at the back, and swerved it at a firing practice target in the distance. He slammed his hoof on the button, and the turret exploded into a loud crack of electricity, sending a blue bolt whizzing through the air. it slammed into the target and utterly disintegrated it. “And that is why it is better to be the one behind it,” Captain said with a very mischievous grin. Our training had progressed for a week, and I had made great progress. Captain set me up with the ‘nicest’ training coach he had. His voice is very loud, and he doesn’t match my definition of ‘nice’, but I’m apparently a fast learner, so the introductory lectures on “History of Equestria” went by fast. Doesn’t mean they weren’t kind of boring, though. Then, we went on to Basic Survival. I was taught how to properly scavenge for foods, which foods can and can’t be eaten, where to find water, how to start fires, and how to operate a firearm. One of my training partners accidentally shot our instructor in the hoof, but he was wearing armor. I almost thought it was me, but when my partner started apologizing frantically, I let out a sigh of relief. Now, I was given some time off with Captain. He really seemed to like my company, more so than anypony else I’d met. “You know, Loste is a really depressing name,” he observed. “Doesn’t everypony have a depressing name?” I asked. “Look at it this way - when a parent names their foal, the foal’s name often reflects the parents emotions. What do you see in the parents of this generation?” “...Lots of fear. And anger.” “And why do you think they are afraid, or why they are angry?” “They’re having a hard time coping with the present?” “Precisely. They’re looking so much at the past, and what has been lost. Now think of it this way. Look at the future. What could happen in the future?” I thought for a moment. “We could make the world a better place?” Captain smiled. “You really are a quick learner. If we focus more on the potential in the future, and not the sadness of the past, we will be happier. Happiness is a great thing. With happiness comes laughter, and with laughter comes friendship. Without friendship, the world would die.” What did Rage (...or was it Fury?) say about friendship? Didn’t he say it died? “So what were your parents like?” I asked, curious. Captain’s facial expression changed, turning to a look of shock. He mouthed the word ‘parents’, staring into the distance. “Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. “...I’m...fine,” he finally said, and shook himself. “Anyway...so you’re saying not to be afraid or angry?” I questioned. He looked towards Fillydelphia. “Not necessarily. You see, all emotions are natural. You do not want to completely block off an emotion. That is how you become insane. You must channel that emotion into strength to move on, to keep fighting the good fight. Don’t let those negative emotions take over your life or get too powerful, but don’t become too overconfident either. You must find balance in your emotions, through channeling them into the strength to continue fighting. And if you don’t give up, you can win, no matter how long it takes.” “...I feel all simple now,” I said, ruining the moment. “Did you just come up with that, like, as you were saying it?” He blushed. “Well, uh, I think I did...” I laughed. “So, uh, anything else you want to show or tell me?” Captain looked around. “You know, you’re such a fast learner, you could probably be done with all of your training today. How about I set you up with a schedule that will get you to all of the remaining classes, and I’ll put you on your first mission tomorrow.” I smiled. “I’m ready!” Captain returned a smile. “Then let’s get started!”

~ ~ ~

I walked down the streets of Fillydelphia, and a map in my bag. I had to stop at a corner to take it out, due to the lack of a better way to hold things. I never fully realized what being a unicorn meant. I can do, like, magic and shit. I don’t know how, though. Captain never offered any training for magic...although he never mentioned any ‘last unicorn in existence’ thing, so there has to be more...don’t think I’ve seen any, though. I followed the specific path Captain laid out for me. I approached the building which my target resided. If my instructions were correct, the building should be vacant at this hour. I walked through the front doors into the enormous office complex. Considering its age, the Fillydelphians kept it in good repair. My target was on floor 23. I was about to enter the elevator when I noticed a sign hung on it, which read “OUT OF ORDER”. Goddess damn it. Well, walking long distances was becoming a regular thing now, but stairs were new. Climbing them was much more taxing on the legs than walking straight. By floor 12 I was exhausted. But I kept on going. Upon reaching my destination, I looked for room 23AB. I walked past several doors. 23SB...nope. 23S...eenope. I was about to reach the end of the hallway when I found 23AB. I had been equipped with a card key to unlock the door. There was a card reader mounted on the door. I withdrew the card from the bag, and tried to work the card through the reader with my mouth. After some advanced technical fiddling, it finally read the card and the door popped open. Inside was...strange. Along the walls were various pictures of ponies, and others featuring apples. The furniture was bland; there was a desk with a laptop on it on one end of the room and a couch on the other, with a rug in between. I approached the desk. I fiddled the laptop into the bag, being careful not to drop it. Then I opened a drawer on the desk, to find a large amount of folders. I flipped through until I found the folder I needed. “CLASSIFIED” was stamped across the folder, and the tab at the top read “CMC#5467b”. I was specifically instructed not to open it, and I placed that into the saddle pack as well. My job was done. I trotted out the door, and went back to the stairs. I began walking down. And down. And down. Down was much better than up. Once I reached floor 7, an alarm suddenly went off, blaring loudly. What did I fuck up now? A door slammed open at the end of the hallway I was near, and a red pony wearing very heavy armor ran out and OH SHIT IS THAT A GUN? I galloped down the stairs at maximum speed, and just before hitting the bottom I tripped and fell into a roll. I crashed in the center of the main lobby, and looked up. I was surrounded by an army of multicolored ponies all wearing the same black armor, with a visor covering their faces. And they all had military-grade assault rifles pointed right at me! I smiled nervously. “Look, I’d love to stay and negotiate some way to enslave me or something, but I’ve got some important matters to attend to, and if I don’t, some ponies may get upse-” “GET OFF HIM!” sounded Captain’s voice from somewhere near the doorway, and all of the guns turned towards him. An explosion of gunfire washed over the entire room, ripping holes in both the walls and ponies. “I’VE GOT THEM! RUN!” Captain shouted at me. It took me a moment to process what is happening, but it finally clicked and I made a mad dash for the exit. Several bullets grazed my flank once more, but in my state of panic I didn’t register the pain. I burst out the exit, and Captain’s army followed from behind. I swerved through the city, I had a general idea of where the camp was, but I didn’t know exactly. I hit several dead ends and almost lost my backup when I heard Captain’s voice, “Over here!” I ran towards it, and he led me out of Fillydelphia as his guards fired at the trailing enemies. Holy crap, Fillydelphia is huge. We finally got to an area where we could see the camp. More of these enemies were already fighting the main base, and they had a very formidable amount of infantry. Captain turned to the left. “Come with me, there’s a secret entrance!” he yelled, and I followed. We followed the perimeter of the city, until we reached an opening into the sewer. It looked like it had once been a drainage pipe, but the bars had corroded away leaving the entrance open. The water was long gone. We ran in, and the smell was horrifying. I could barely see, but I could see enough to follow Captain. We took several turns before finally stopping at some kind of glowing...pod? What? “We have very little power for this thing, it was meant for emergencies in case I needed to escape unnoticed...luckily, it works both ways. Loste, you first, then me.” He turned towards the guards. “The rest of you, go out and try to attack them from behind.” They all nodded and ran. I stepped into the pod thing, it was cylindrical with a slidable glass door. A blue light in the top illuminated it, and it was all I could see among the blackness of the sewer. Captain closed the door, and motioned for me to press a very large and obvious red button. I reached my hoof to press it, and zap! I was gone.

Chapter 8
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Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Complications

Suddenly, I was in Captain’s headquarters at the base. How did I...? I was in another one of those pod things inside an indent in the wall. The walls opened automatically, and I stepped out. I was exhausted, and I was starting to feel those shots. Turning around to look, I saw a flash of blue light, and then Captain was standing there, in his red and black Rebel armor. He walked out, trotted to that ultra-comfy couch, lifted the cushion and pressed a button that was under it. The wall actually slid closed over the pod thing. “Never told you we have magic defenses, did I?” Captain said, breathing heavily but grinning. Gunfire was still audible, but I had confidence in Captain’s forces. “Well, this...complicates things. A lot,” Captain said. I coughed. “You couldn’t have known that would happen, why were you there?” Captain put the cushion back on the couch. “As soon as you got out of eyesight of our base, they attacked from inside Fillydelphia. At first, there were only a few, so you didn’t hear the guns. When we thought it was over, another wave came from the other side, bigger this time. I knew you were in trouble, so I came out as fast as I could.” I sighed. “Did you know there would be an alarm?” Captain frowned. “No, I didn’t know there’d be any kind of danger, really. Nopony has occupied or needed that room since PT took over. I just needed some information from it, that’s all. What worries me, though, is how all of those Resistors got inside Fillydelphia, especially that building.” I tried to sit on the couch, but the pain from the bullet wounds shot across my flank, and I let out an audible “Ow!” Captain walked towards some cabinets. “Take those saddlebags off, I need to bandage those.” I followed his instructions obediently and painfully. You know, getting shot really hurts. After he bandaged be and gave me another healing potion, we looked through the bags. Captain smiled. “I’m surprised none of this was stolen or broken by now, it’s been about two hundred years since these were last used.” He patted me on the back with a hoof. “I think we could call the mission a success.” A loud explosion rumbled the military encampment. Captain frowned. “Probably not good. After we fight them off, this is going to need some serious investigation...we have the borders of Fillydelphia very heavily guarded, the chances of a Resistor getting in there is very slim,” Captain observed. “I think I should go out there and help them. Do me a favor and stay here while I go take them out.” I nodded. Waiting, again? I sat down in front of our collection of loot. Why do I always have to wait? I looked at the folder. I know Captain told me not to open it, but...what else could I do? I looked towards the entryway. No ponies there. I smirked. As I tried to open the folder, papers scattered everywhere, some sliding under the couch. One caught my eye, however. There was a photograph of three young adult ponies; a yellowy orange pegasus, a white unicorn, and a yellow earth pony. They wore fancy business suits, and each had a golden badge labeled “CMC”. They stood in front of a large fountain in a place that almost looked like Fillydelphia, except...living. I focused on the background. Ponies trotted around, the fountain sprayed water, and everything was so bright and happy. The buildings were spotless, and everypony looked happy. Was that what the world was like? Who were those ponies? I examined some other papers. Most of it was a bunch of technical craziness I had no capability of understanding, but occasionally some words would stand out. The “Persistent Pony Project” appeared several times, on multiple papers. What was that? I was about to start messing with the laptop when I heard another large explosion. I couldn’t tell if that was our turret firing or our turret exploding, the thing was loud either way. Should I go out and sneak a peek at the battle? Well, boredom does not have an easy cure, so I decided to go out just to look. One of the turrets was charred and smoking, with an unconscious soldier behind it. The other turret was not occupied, and the walls of this base had many holes, bullet and explosion. A firefight was taking place in the field between the base and Fillydelphia, with about five ponies from each side. Dead bodies littered the field, also from both sides. I could hear cries for help, and many things were ruined beyond repair. Tents were flattened, equipment destroyed, ponies killed. I stood with my jaw agape. Who did this? Who killed all of these ponies? WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE? I began to cry. I laid down on the grass, burying my face in my hooves. I sobbed. The world was a terrible place. I had seen too much. I was beginning to break down completely. “Loste!” sounded Captain’s voice from nearby. “We have to get out of here, come on!” I lifted my head. My vision was obscured by tears, but I could see him standing by his headquarters. “Cry later, but we have to run. Now,” he said, and tried to nudge me up. I just wanted to lay down and die. Why did ponies do this? “Get. Up. Now,” Captain said, pushing his head under me with each word. He stopped and sighed. “Please,” he asked. “We’ve never been hit this bad. I’m begging you, please, don’t leave me alone.” Captain was begging, he was desperate. I had never been cared for like this. Somepony actually cared about me! I slowly got up to my hooves, and blinked the tears away. “Thank you, Loste. Thank you,” he said and turned around. “Now come on, let’s go!” Captain began galloping away from Fillydelphia. I followed.

~ ~ ~

Captain and I sat around a fire, we had found refuge in a small cave. We had been walking for hours, until finding this place. We decided to stop for the night. “We need that data,” Captain finally said after hours of silence. “Eventually we have to go back.” I sighed. “Why does it matter?” Captain looked into the fire. He was silent for a moment, and then spoke. “War is a terrible, terrible thing.” I took a bite of the berries Captain had picked on the way here. These berries tasted different, but they were equally delicious. Captain let out a long, slow breath. “War is not caused by nature. War doesn’t just happen. Ponies make it happen.” He took a bite of his own berries, chewing slowly. “War only destroys us. We do not benefit by killing each other. We should not solve our problems by fighting.” I swallowed my berries. “Why did you start the Rebellion if you did not want to fight?” Captain’s face became a sad frown. “I didn’t start it.” He walked to the edge of the cave and laid down. “Who did?” I asked. He remained silent. I was getting tired anyway, so I stretched out and slept by the warmth of the fire.

~ ~ ~

“Think of a better name than Loste, yet?” Captain asked as we continued walking. When weren’t we walking long distances and talking about the world? We’ve sure done a lot of that. “No,” I responded. “I still don’t feel like I really belong. I’m very lost, and my name accurately represents that.”We were desperately looking for conversation to pass the time. We did not know exactly where to go, but we were heading towards the nearby city of Baltimare. “Baltimare is a strange place,” Captain mentioned. “The ponies aren’t like anypony else. Most of them stay hidden in the buildings that haven’t crumbled, working on some kind of crazy project only they know about. They only leave to find food, and Baltimare was a major food exporter, so they rarely have to leave the city. Ponies who don’t already live there typically stay away. This almost worries me, as it sounds like the perfect opportunity for a Resistor troop to establish a base of operations.” I snorted. “You really don’t know much about the Resistance, do you?” Captain sighed. “Mostly just what they broadcast. Luckily, we keep very secretive as well, but it still doesn’t help that we don’t know shit about them.” “How do you plan to stop them if you know nothing about them?” I asked. “We just look for any opportunity we can do hurt them without suffering too much of a loss ourselves,” Captain said with a sad frown. I looked at our latest installment of ‘distant settlements we’re walking towards’. “Baltimare honestly sounds a bit boring. What would we need to do with them? Doesn’t sound like they’d be willing to trade.” “We don’t have to go there if you don’t want to,” Captain decided. “We could try Dodge City. They have a nice weapons dealer, and as far as I know they’re fairly friendly to strangers.” “I don’t see why not,” I said and looked in the saddlebag Captain brought for me. “All we have are pistols.” “I knew I should have spent a moment to grab better guns,” Captain exclaimed. “What is happening to us? We used to be the mighty Rebellion, the unstoppable force. And then we just get pummeled out of nowhere, in our own base!” I trotted closer to him. “Don’t look at what you lost, Captain. Look at what you could become.” Captain smiled.

Chapter 9
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Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Dodge City

Rage completed his training in record time, finishing all tests and courses in less than two days. Fury, on the other hand, was struggling far behind. The instructors predicted it would take him a week minimum to finish his training. Rage rarely saw Fury, and when he did it was usually in the bathroom.

“Rage, we’re proud of you,” said the voice of the leader into his earpiece. “I think you’re worthy of a...special operation.” “Consider it done,” said Rage with determination. “Good,” the leader said. “We have intel on the location of the Rebellion’s main base. An attack has just been staged recently, and their assault was a total success. I want you to retrieve some goods from inside their base...” Rage was ready. “Whenever you need me.” And with that, Rage walked to the briefing room.

~ ~ ~

I slid twenty bits that Captain had given me across the counter. The dealer smiled and reached under the counter, withdrawing a shotgun. He also set four boxes of shotgun rounds on the counter. “Thanks for doing business with Dodge Firearms,” he told me. I put my new toys in my saddlebag, and placed the shotgun in a convenient strap holder thingy along my side for easy access. I left the old glorified trailer to find Captain testing his new assault rifle on some targets behind the store. He was hitting nearly in the center every time. I slowly walked near him, and pulled out the shotgun as quietly as possible. The training for holding firearms really came in handy about now, and I carefully wielded it between my hooves. I looked down the iron sights on top, lined it up with the target, and fired. The kick from the shot sent the gun straight into my nose, slamming it with immense force. The noise was also so loud that Captain jumped and sprayed gunfire on the trailer, and my ears began ringing. As I rubbed my now-bleeding nose, I heard an angry yell from inside the trailer. The words were incomprehensible, but it sounded angry. I blushed and smiled guiltily as Captain shot me an accusing look. “Did you intend on getting the loudest shotgun they had?” Captain angrily scolded. “No, it just looked cool!” I rebutted. He sighed, and took out some medicine from his pack. For a lack of decent firearms, he sure had a lot of medical supplies...after rubbing it on my nose, we decided to ask around and see what the latest news was. After finding a green mare, we were able to squeeze some information out of her. She was a little nervous around Captain, but she talked. “Well, some lone Resistor walked by here last night, couldn’t see him very well, but he was heading off towards Baltimare...or maybe Fillydelphia?” she had told us. Then she nervously hurried off to a house nearby, ran in and slammed the door. “I don’t see why they’re so afraid of me,” said Captain. “Pegasi used to be completely normal.” I was about to apologize when I noticed some kind of bulletin board near a bench and fountain. The fountain was long dry, the bench was rusty and broken, but the bulletin board looked...used. We trotted over to investigate. “DODGE CITY NOTICEBOARD” had been scratched across the top haphazardly, and various old papers were pinned on. They had been repeatedly used and erased, but the notices were clear. “HELP, NEED FOOD FOR SICK FOAL” read one. “HOUSE BROKEN INTO AND ROBBED” read another. Nothing seemed important. As we were turning around, we began to hear a crackle. Captain’s face seemed to droop in worry. “There’s a speaker,” he said. I began to look around for the source of the crackle, when a very strange male voice sounded. “Hello, Captain,” it said, sinister. “I do believe your base is now under control by the Resistance, is it not?” Captain’s face was flaming red, out of both anger and shame. “Not a stallion of many words? I can’t hear you, but the cameras are information enough. Who’s your friend?” Captain was turning so red that couldn’t be healthy. This was starting to make me angry, as well. “Embarrassed? What, did you sleep with him?” the voice said with a giggle. Captain was practically steaming. “I’m just going to leave you on your way, doing whatever it is you’re doing. Oh yeah, those super secret documents you left in your living room? They’re mine now.” Captain’s jaw dropped. He began a serious rampage. “WHO THE HELL DO YOU FUCKING THINK YOU ARE?! THOSE ARE RIGHTFULLY MINE, AND YOU CAN’T JUST MARCH IN AND FUCKING TAKE-” “-And who says we can’t? What rights? There’s no government yet. And until there is, rights are nothing. You can’t stop us.” Captain was vibrating with anger, looking at the bulletin board. He was beginning to make strange noises from his weird spasm. I just sat down and watched, somewhat mad because of all the shit I had to go through to get that stuff, but also somewhat clueless. “And I have one last thing,” the voice said and let out a long, evil laugh. “I do believe you used to have a, how do I put this...very special somepony?” Captain stopped vibrating, and suddenly became overrun with fear. I didn’t know what to do. This must have been very personal. He finally murmured, “Greenstrike...”

Who now?

“Vaporized in battle...ah, a heroic...death. You were quick to accept the easy way out. You thought she died.” it said, with a very sinister tone. Captain is going to need to explain something to me later... “NO! NO! NOOOOO!” Captain yelled, finally broken. “STOP THIS NOW!!!” He collapsed on the ground and began sobbing his eyes out. I just sat, mouth agape, staring at the scene. “Let me assure you: the new and improved Greenstrike is quite the...shocker,” it concluded with a laugh. “Also, the camera’s in the fountain, you idiot.” And then the connection was severed. “NOOOOOOOO!” Captain yelled at the top of his voice. “FUCK. NO.” He stomped his hooves, and I think he began foaming at the mouth... I began to speak. “Captain, are you oka-” “SHUT UP!” he interrupted. “SHUT THE HELL UP!” My mouth opened wide once again. Did he just...? “I AM GOING TO GET REVENGE ON THAT MOTHERFUCKER...I WILL FUCKING KILL HIM!” he continued. I started slowly inching away from him, becoming scared. Something bad is about to happen. Captain let out a very loud, senseless gargly scream, withdrew his assault rifle and flew into the air. I ran under the bench to hide. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THOSE HOUSES!” he yelled, and even from a distance, the loudness hurt. “GET OUT OR YOU WILL FUCKING DIE!” I think I’ll just be leaving now. I ran. I ran for my life. Something was very wrong here, and I did not want to be a part of it. The last thing I heard before leaving earshot was gunfire. Lots of gunfire. And screams. Lots of screams.

Chapter 10
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Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Emotions

Emotions. A pony is not a pony without emotions. Emotions are the driving force behind all which ponies do, be it thinking, talking, creating, learning, or even killing. Emotions are very delicate, and a balance of all emotions must be found to maintain peace and order within one’s mind. Some may be more resistant to disorder of emotions than others, but every emotional being has a breaking point.

Many emotions exist. Happiness, laughter, sadness, anger, longing, anxiety, the list goes on and on. But two emotions stand out for their immense importance. The first emotion is a very special emotion to feel. It may be very difficult to find this emotion within you, but this emotion is extremely important regardless. It is love. Love is a wonderful, terrible, crazy, and peaceful thing. Love creates new bonds, love destroys old bonds. Love can be considered the ‘chaos emotion’. Love might also be the root emotion of many other emotions, good or bad. But without love, ponies would ultimately die, leaving the world to rot. Love is the driving force behind the successful life of ponies, and a species cannot live forever without it.The other emotion is what keeps ponies happy. Without being happy, there is no will to live. Without a will to live, there is no will to survive. This emotion is more than just an emotion. It is also a bond between ponies, a way to vent other emotions, a way to meet new ponies. This emotion is friendship. True friendship is an everlasting bond between two or more ponies, not just a status label. Friendship is the ultimate cause of happiness, even if it may occasionally falter. Friends grow apart, friends have disagreements, friends may even hurt each other. But true friendship will never break. If a pony does not find true friendship, they will be miserable and will not find the happiness they need to live a successful life and survive. Love is what creates the world around you, friendship is what keeps it spinning.

~ ~ ~

I collapsed in a small hole in the ground. I breathed more heavily than ever before, and I was in immense shock. The sun was now setting. I had run for an hour, stopping when I thought I saw a settlement in the distance. If what Captain said was true, that would be Appleoosa. The land of the Resistance. What had Captain done? Who could be so important as to make him do...that? Sand from the roof of the hole fell into my eye. I shook my head and blinked. Why does everything I begin to know, or even begin to like, get taken away from me? Any time I become familiar with something, comfortable around it, it is taken away from me or destroyed. I began to cry. Not a cry from physical wounds. It was a terrible cry. Not only had I lost my home, my memory, and my sense of self, but I also lost a friend. The first pony I became close enough to call a friend. We went on a little adventure together, sort of. We had seen action, and learned many lessons in the short time we were together. What happened to Captain? What happened to me? A tear rolled down my cheek and landed on the floor. My sadness was so strong it was like I could hear it inside that tear. A part of me had been torn away, as soon as I broke out of the prison of PT. Life had been easy when everything was done for me. I may not remember what it was like, and it sounded extremely painful, but I had no responsibilities other than just existing. Everything was not under my control, it just happened. When I broke free, I became a new pony. It may have been a change for the better, but I still changed. Being free was so easy. I could see anything, it was like I was destined to find Rage and Fury. Everything happened right in front of me, nothing was hard to figure out. It was like Celestia herself was watching over, ensuring I would triumph no matter what. When I lost my memory in Rage and Fury’s house...everything was stripped away. I was a blank slate. Nothing was left. I retained my ability to speak and my ability to reason, but any sense of self was washed away. Nothing was left of the old me. Super, uber-observant me. The me which could find a tiny pony-sized hole to escape. A hole nopony else was ever able to find, not even me after...it happened. I could learn how to walk, talk, and run in ten seconds flat. That was gone. The first time I felt of any importance since the incident, like I could do something, was when I met Captain. He took me in, almost like a child. He taught me how to live and survive, he showed me what the real world was like. The real world was a horrible, horrible place. Ponies died all over, for many reasons. Starvation, disease, violence, and war. Some old age, some died in pregnant mothers. Some died at birth. Death may be a natural thing, but not every cause is natural. There’s enough natural death to go around, there is no reason to make it any worse. I finally laid down in the hole. Tears streamed down my cheeks, they created a puddle on the floor. Captain had showed me life. Life was the last thing a pony has that can be taken away. If a pony has nothing else; no home, no food, no friends, they have life. But even life can be taken away. Captain showed me why I must live. If I give up and die, the world would never become a better place. I may not be able to fix everything on my own, but I can sure try. I thought Captain was invincible, the wise hero of Equestria that would save us all. I don’t know anymore. There was something he wasn’t telling me. This...Greenstrike. Who was she? Why was she so important? But most of all, what about Captain? Will he ever be the same? I began to sleep in that hole. Not a peaceful sleep, nor comfortable. It was rest from a really, really long and stressful day.

~ ~ ~

Rage sat in the premium lounge of the Resistance headquarters. Only the top performers had access, and only three ponies were considered ‘top performers’ - Rage, Sawblade, and Greenstrike. Rage laid on a very comfortable couch, eating delicious frosting-covered pastries. Sawblade and Greenstrike were out on a mission, but rage had a day off for his exceptional performance on his last mission. His earpiece beeped, and the Leader’s voice sounded. “I apologize if I’m being a bother, but we have a slight problem,” he told Rage. “Nu pwubluhm,” Rage said with a mouthful of sugary bread. “Good. We have somepony awfully close, he found a hole in the ground to sleep in. I don’t like it when ponies sleep near our property.” Rage swallowed. “Don’t you have turrets or something?” The Leader laughed. “But then it isn’t as fun. Besides, I think I know who that pony is. He’s been following the leader of the Rebellion all over the place, seems to be in close relations with him.” “Does he have any firearms?” Rage asked, standing up to prepare for the mission. “Just a cheap shotgun, shouldn’t be a problem if he doesn’t wake up.” There was a click, and the Leader was gone. The eyepiece Rage was wearing gave him a map marker in his augmented vision. He equipped his BUCK-47 assault rifle and headed toward the waypoint. Easy job.

~ ~ ~

A drop of cold water hit my side. My eyes slowly opened. Another drop landed on my eye, making me blink. Rain? Perfect way to make feeling like shit even more shitty. I slowly stood up, and shook off the water. I collected my bags and shotgun, ready to leave and get the hell out of this place. I didn’t specifically want to come so close to Appleoosa, but I didn’t have any kind of navigation to show the way anywhere else. Where else was there to go besides Baltimare? I walked out of the hole. Wet sand began glopping on my face, so I stepped out and shook it off. Is it safe to go back to Dodge City? Is Captain still there? Is he...sane again? I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere else to go or do, so I’ll take my chances. I looked at the direction of Appleoosa. I had come from...I looked to the right. That way. I started trotting. Most of my life since the incident has been walking. Walking was almost synonymous with breathing at this point. My hooves glopped through the sand as I trotted back the way I came. Walking. Something flashed in the corner of my vision. What was that? I looked towards it, but all I could see were clouds and rain. Nothing. Rain must have flew by my face or something. I returned back to my walking...again. Except this time, through increasingly harsh rain.

~ ~ ~

I finally made it to my destination - Dodge City. The rain had gotten so bad, my blue mane drooped across my face and I was soaking wet. No matter how many times I tried to fling it away, it just came back. I had given up and just started dealing with vision from one eye. Dodge City was a nightmare. Citizens’ bodies lay strewn across the ground at awkward angles, maimed by bullet holes. Blood was everywhere, sprayed across buildings and pathways. Dodge City hadn’t looked as big when we were first here, but I never gave it much thought. The main square, where the old glorified trailer which houses Dodge Firearms resides, was the bloodiest. The residential district, where many dilapidated houses stood, was also littered with bodies. Nothing appeared to still be living. I made my way to that bench and the fountain. The fountain had been on a slight dip in elevation, so the blood runoff from the rain pooled here. The bench had been turned over and broken in two, and the noticeboard also lay flat on the ground. The papers had either torn off or lay soaking wet on top of it. Inside the fountain was the worst thing I had seen by far. A body lay there, covered completely in blood. Scars were everywhere, and bullet wounds dotted his body. He was breathing, but very lightly and irregularly. Much of his mane had been torn out, or soaked in blood. One of his ears had the tip ripped off, and it had scabbed over. It was covered in blood. His body lay in a very awkward position, inside the fountain. And on top of the bench was a bloody, severed gray wing. I looked at the body. Captain...

~ ~ ~

The rain had stopped, leaving the sky a dull cloudy gray once again. Every attempt to awaken Captain had proved to be a failure. He continued breathing, but made no sign of consciousness. I went into Dodge Firearms. A wheel of the trailer had been popped, tilting it on its side. All of the old weapons and equipment had slid to the far corner, or at least was lodged out of place. The dealer was dead, strewn across the counter. I investigated the weapons. They all looked usable, albeit some were soaked in blood. I took a much bigger saddlepack than the one I had, and transferred my items. I took a large assault rifle to replace my shotgun, and put the shotgun in the enormous bag. I also grabbed two pistols, a knife, and ammo for everything. A single pair of armor was under the counter, which I took and put on. It was a little big, but it fit. It was made of iron, painted black. It honestly looked very cool, but what do I care? The face was open and it had some blood on it, but the rest of my body was completely covered. Due to it being somewhat larger than I am, every step produced some clanking noises. It was better than nothing. Some books on firearm safety and usage were also on the counter, so I took those. The cash register had a grand total of 127 bits in it, which I also put in a separate pouch of the bag. I needed to be ready for whatever the world threw at me. I stepped down from the elevated floor of the trailer. I went back to Captain, to say one last goodbye. He doesn’t look okay, I don’t think he will survive for long. I stroked his mane gently. “Hi, Captain,” I whispered. “How’s life?” He didn’t wake up. I sat on the edge of the fountain, laying a hoof over his body. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. Sorry for whatever happened to you. I care, I really do.” A paper blew from the noticeboard, interrupting the still silence. “It’s okay, Captain. Ponies make mistakes,” I spoke. Maybe he couldn’t hear me, but it was in his good memory that I said it anyway. “I hope you know that you’re the only friend I’ve had. The first pony to call a buddy.” A lone wind blew my wet mane. “I hope that in the Afterlife, you are forgiven.” Back in Captain’s training, I was taught about the Afterlife and how Celestia watched over us all, welcoming the dead to eternal worry-free care. Captain was not a bad pony. Would Celestia let him in? A tear once again fell from my cheek, and landed on his eye. I wiped it off with my hoof. I smiled. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Captain, but...” "I love you, Captain. You have showed me what it’s meant to be a pony. I’m not a clueless nopony anymore, thanks to you.” I began sniffling. “I’ll miss you, Captain. I really will.”

I slowly climbed into the fountain to lay with him, until his last moments. He deserved to have somepony to comfort him. He comforted me when i needed it, so it’s time to do the same for him. “I love you,” I finally said, and scooted against his body. I closed my eyes. “Thank you.”

Chapter 11
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Ripples

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Rage

I slowly opened my eyes. The sun was setting, turning the cloudy sky orange and casting long shadows from everything. Captain was still breathing. I listened for a moment. It was no longer irregular and shallow, it was now proper breathing. A smile spread across my face.

“Hi, Captain,” I said. He made a small grunting noise. That was a good sign. I leaned over and rubbed my hoof across his side. “Captain, wake up!” He groaned some more, and moved his legs. He began to whisper. “It hurts.” I patted him. “It hurts so much,” he whispered. I took his bag that was still propped against to the fountain, and found one final healing potion. “Here, drink this,” I said and touched it to his lips. I poured, and some spilled along his cheeks, but the majority went in his mouth. “I’m a monster,” Captain said. “No you’re not,” I told him, desperately trying to encourage him. “Leave me alone. Let me die.” I frowned. “Ponies make mistakes. Captain.” Captain grunted, and turned over. As the stump where his wing used to be pressed to the bottom of the fountain, he let out a cry of pain. “I’m sorry, Captain,” I apologized. “No, I am,” he said with a cough. “I did this to myself. I did this to everypony. I deserve it.” The sun touched the horizon, finally coming down to a close. I looked down at him. “Captain, you know what a wise gray pony once told me?” He grunted again. “He said that if you look at your past, and what you lost, you will be miserable. You know what he told me to do instead?” Another grunt. “He told me to look at my future, the future of the world. The past doesn’t matter. What’s gone is gone, what’s done is done.” Captain was silent. “Ponies aren’t invincible, Captain. We can break. I know.” He sighed. “The world is a terrible, terrible place. It can do unthinkable things to ponies, but we just have to keep on fighting. If we give up and stop, nopony will be able to make a difference.” “Somepony else will do it,” Captain glumly stated. “You know that isn’t the point,” I scolded. “I want you to get up right now and come-” A deep, gravelly voice interrupted me. “Look, I hate to interrupt your sob story, but I want to know what the hell is going on.” I knew that voice. What was he doing here? I slowly turned around. “You are my target?!” Rage said from beside Dodge Firearms. My mouth dropped wide open. Target? What? “YOU are with the Rebellion?!” Rage exclaimed, stomping his hoof. Wait a moment... He wore a high-tech headset and eyepiece helmet, and had very thin and well-fit black armor on his body. Another fancy assault rifle similar to mine was strapped to his side, and two saddlebags hung on either side of him. A logo was on his saddlebags, it was a golden star accompanied by two white wings, with a black ring surrounding it. I knew that logo... “I get a mission to kill a fucking rebel on my day off, and what do I find? I find the entire reason I’m free from that Goddess-damned place, and I have to kill him?!” he yelled, clearly upset with the circumstance. I sure wasn’t happy. Something didn’t sound good... He stared off at...something, angry. Where was he looking? I was about to follow his eyes when he began arguing. “Look, I know he’s with the enemy, but that idiot is the whole reason I’m free!” Who in Equestria is he talking to? His face was getting very red and angry. He just stared for a moment, clearly listening to somepony. He stomped his hoof dramatically, and yelled, “I DIDN’T LEAVE THAT FUCKING PLACE TO LOSE MY FREE WILL TO SOME UNKNOWN FUCKER AGAIN! WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME KILL THE ONLY PONY WHO HAS EVER TRULY HELPED ME?!” Um...This doesn’t sound good...I slowly backed behind the fountain, peeking my eyes out. He withdrew his assault rifle. Oh shit...is he going to go crazy too?! Please, not again... He screamed at maximum volume into his microphone. “IF I CAN’T FUCKING GET ANY OPINIONS, THEN WHAT’S DIFFERENT FROM BEING BACK WHERE I WAS?! BUT THIS TIME, I HAVE TO DO ALL YOUR SHIT WHILE YOU SIT BACK AND BOSS ME AROUND! I. FUCKING. QUIT!” He tore off his helmet and very aggressively hurled it on the ground, shattering the eyepiece. He withdrew his assault rifle, carefully aimed it into the helmet, and unloaded an entire clip into it. It began smoking and sparking with electricity. He turned around and applebucked it all the way into the residential areas, causing it to literally explode against a house, crumbling the wall. Smoking shrapnel was sent flying everywhere, extinguished by the pools of blood. I sat by the fountain, mouth agape. He also reached into his bag and took out some sort of...thing. It was small, long and thin, and one end was red. My questions as to what it was were quickly answered - he held it against the Resistance logos on his armor, and turned it on. A small red beam was emitted from the red surface, burning the Resistance logo. As smoke rose from the laser, the logo was blackened and removed. He repeated the process for each logo on his uniform, until he had no remaining Resistance branding.He also dug through his saddlebags, tossing or burning anything with a Resistance logo on it. When he had finished, he simply sighed.“I didn’t sign up for this.” I was about to respond, arguing with his point, but I thought it best to just shut up.“We left Ponyville because we wanted freedom. Now that we could get away from PT, staying anywhere near them was most likely suicide. We stumbled on the Resistance’s main headquarters. They said they needed soldiers, and we jumped for the opportunity. They supplied food, water, and anything we needed. The only thing they asked of us was to follow any orders they gave us.” He walked towards me and sat down beside the fountain.“It seemed like a wonderful offer at the time, since everything would be given to us. But we didn’t realize it took away our freedom, the one thing we gained from leaving that place. Maybe not as much so as your...” he paused looking for the right word. “Situation, but we had no say in anything. No ability to do as we pleased, to have any opinions.”I could sympathize with him. I still remember that feeling of helplessness, even without my memory. That feeling was a scar in my emotions, not a memory.Captain finally said something. “Where’s Fury?”Rage frowned. “Still out there. I don’t know what our friend here told you about him, but he was the only friend I ever had. He’s still with them, I don’t think he knows what happened.”I realized he still hadn’t learned my name. “I...uh...my name...is Loste.”“Oh...uh, okay,” Rage said, startled by my sudden comment. “Nevermind that right now. We need to get Fury out of there, I know exactly where he will be at any given time. I don’t think a direct approach is going to work, though. Their defenses are on par with a PT forcefield, even though they don’t actually use forcefield technology for their base defenses. Trying to just walk in is impossible if they know who you are, and judging by all the shit they dumped on Captain in those broadcasts all the time, they’d vaporize you in an instant.”I thought about his words, trying to think of a plan. “You know who this is?” I gestured at Captain. “Why haven’t you killed him or something?”“I have been skeptical of the Resistance since the start. I didn’t know what else to do or where to go, however, so it was all I could really do. And when I saw Captain’s condition, I didn’t want to make matters any worse. I trust you, uh...Loste, and I don’t think you would choose the wrong path. I’ve never wanted to hurt ponies, but I’ve been forced to for my own survival. If I can help it, though, I spare them. Even back in the days of being a rebel of PT, I’d still let the others slide.”I smiled. “Rage, you are a good pony.”Rage returned a small grin. “Now we really need to help Captain. He’s in a terrible condition, he’s probably lost a lot of blood. Look in all of our bags for any medical supplies, I’ll see what I can do.While I was digging for the requested items, Rage was comforting Captain.“Captain, I know what happened. I’m not mad at you, none of this was your fault. Ponies can break down and do things no sane pony would ever do,” Rage told him.“So I’m insane,” Captain muttered.“That’s not what I mean. You weren’t yourself when you did that. You were anger. Anger is not a pony.”“And what’s saying it won’t happen again?” Captain rebutted.“It won’t if you can control it. Remember this: do everything you can do redeem yourself from this. Please, be disappointed in yourself. You may never feel like it is enough, or that you’re worthy of anything, but hopefully it will be sufficient to stop the anger from taking control of you again.”By the time Rage finished talking, I had made a pile of any medical-looking objects against the fountain. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would do. Rage reached for a roll of magic bandages I had found out of his bag and wrapped them around Captain’s many injuries. Despite his efforts not to cause Captain any pain, he still caused quite a few groans of agony.“I’m sorry, Captain. I’m being as gentle as I can,” Rage tried to comfort Captain. “Focus on how to get Fury out of there.”Rage must have pulled something delicate, because Captain cried out in pain. After taking some deep breaths, he finally spoke. “I have spies.”Rage stopped working and smiled. “Looks like somepony knows how to do shit.”“They don’t have many opportunities to contact me, however. I have a large chain of messengers disguised as normal citizens, trade caravan merchants, and various other ‘average’ roles to bring whatever intel the spies have. Sadly they often die, lose the message, or have some other extenuating circumstance that prevents the message from getting to me. Also, it takes weeks, even on good days,” Captain explained.I noticed a huge improvement in his mood since Rage began his work. He was willing to talk now, and didn’t seem nearly as depressed. While he wasn’t exactly throwing a party, any improvement counts.“Please, try and stand...and get out of this nasty fountain,” Rage told Captain. Captain reluctantly obliged, slowly climbing from the fountain. As he set his hooves back onto solid ground, his rear left leg buckled, causing him to collapse and sending blood from the puddle flying all over me and Rage.Rage helped Captain stand back up, supporting his weight. “So how are we going to tell your spies what we need?”Captain frowned. “It’s a bit primitive, but I’ve established a system of smoke signals whenever I need them. Hasn’t been used yet, but they all know how to interpret it. I know how to signal them what to do.”Rage pondered the thought. “Oh, what the hell. I don’t see a better way to do it, let’s get this going.”Captain nodded. “Okay, fine,” he agreed.I smiled, feeling a tinge of mischief. I liked that feeling.

Chapter 12
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Ripples

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Alliance

Sawblade and Greenstrike stood in the Parasprite Technologies citadel. PT’s leader remained in the shadows, unseen by all others. Guards surrounded the room and the leader, preventing any disruptions. The leader continued his negotiations.

“The problem I have with your proposal...well, I simply don’t like it,” he laughed. “I am confident that you will return to your leader and ask for a better idea.” Sawblade did not like what he was hearing. “We have headsets with a radio link, you know!” The leader laughed. “Even better. Would you mind forwarding the connection to me?” Sawblade reluctantly agreed. After selecting a few options in his augmented vision, the leader had established a connection with the Resistance. “Oh, hello dear. I’m afraid your little...arrangement isn’t going to work out,” he spoke. “...I apologize for your concerns, but I assure you, we already have it all planned out and coordinated. As soon as you’re ready, Project Revival will be deployed.” He swiftly severed the connection, and began speaking with Sawblade again. “Good news. My plan is more than sufficient for our goal, and I exuberantly await its deployment. Your leader is skeptical about my methods, but she will come to understand the magnitude of this operation in time.” “Yes sir,” Sawblade saluted. He did not agree with PT’s plan either, but disagreeing was out of the option. “I eagerly await your return for Project Revival. I bid you farewell,” the leader said. Sawblade turned around to walk out the door. “Greenstrike! Come.” Greenstrike obediently followed.

~ ~ ~

Captain, Rage and I marched towards Appleoosa. Well, Captain was actually limping, but it was close enough. We had brought Captain’s wing to serve as a reminder of what Captain has hopefully overcome. “Walking is boring,” Rage commented. “I hate walking.” “Welcome to the club,” I told him empathetically. Captain grunted. We were heading for Appleoosa, with plans to stop as soon as the smoke would be visible. I had gathered bunch of sticks from around Dodge City, as well as flammable materials and lighters. A road headed vaguely in the direction of Appleoosa, but it had not been used for years even before the takeover. It had faded into nothingness about halfway to Appleoosa from Dodge City, and we were approaching that area. That’s where we were going to signal Captain’s spies. We all desperately needed a good washing. Rage was cleanest, but after his work on Captain, he had been left pretty messy as well. “You know how Fury fell down those stairs?” Rage asked. I nodded. “Well, turns out we had a heavy-duty healing potion in the fridge, hiding behind some cans of old lettuce. Fixed him up in about eight hours, then he was fine.” “Where did you get that?” I asked, jealous of his impressive find. Would that replace appendages? Probably not. “It’s been in there since before Ponyville was overrun. I hadn’t known what it did until recently, when I found a medical guide hidden on that computer. It was encrypted, but it wasn’t very strong encryption,” Rage explained. I had no idea what that meant, but I just nodded. As we continued walking, I saw a small speck of something in the distance. The heat waves from the hot area made it impossible to distinguish, but it appeared to be moving. “You guys see that?” I asked. “Yes,” Captain muttered. “Normally I’d say that was probably a trade caravan, but what the hell are they doing on this road?” “No idea. I suppose we should find out anyway,” I suggested. Captain made another grunt, and we continued walking.

~ ~ ~

A red earth pony with a short brown mane trotted to us, pulling a cart loaded with miscellaneous junk and supplies. As soon as he was close enough to recognize Captain, he dashed straight for us. “Captain!” he yelled whilst charging. His voice was somewhat high-pitched, and sounded panicked. The cart bounced behind him, almost tipping over from his aggressive dash towards us. He skidded to a halt, stopping perfectly in front of Captain. I gave him a mental 9 out of 10, impressed with his expertly timed braking. Captain looked horrified, as if he thought he was about to be run over. “Why do you always do this?” Captain said, scared. “Don’t worry...about that...now,” he said, pausing to take some breaths. I still couldn’t seem to figure out why he was running a trade caravan in this area. “There’s something happening...in the Resistance. They’re...marching...away, towards PT!” Captain’s neutral expression quickly turned into alarm. “The hell? What do they need from them?” The unnamed red pony looked confused. It hit me he still didn’t know about PT’s continued existence. I was about to explain when Captain took off in a limping dash, heading for the Resistance HQ. Rage and I exchanged worried looks, and then chased after him. The red pony followed, abandoning his cart.

~ ~ ~

“Captain!” I yelled, desperately trying to stop him. “When they see you, they’ll kill you!” “You don’t...understand!” he yelled over his shoulder at us. “This is very bad!” Rage, the red pony and I glanced at each other, concerned for Captain. We were going surprisingly fast, considering Captain’s injury. The red pony spoke up. “Captain, this is the one thing you have refused to tell me about! What is this?!” Captain continued running frantically, ignoring the red stallion’s question. Appleoosa finally showed on the horizon, with a huge black mass of ponies heading westward. Captain is about to get himself killed, I could feel it. Rage was starting to fill with, well, rage. “Captain, what the hell do you think you’re fucking doing?!” Captain continued running. Rage only got rage-ier. “I don’t want you to die on me, you stupid little shit! Stop this fucking instant!” Captain finally spoke up. “Fine, if you want me to explain, I will,” he said and slowed down. As we caught up, we found an equal pace to continue running. “Okay, basically, what is about to happen is very, very bad,” Captain hurriedly explained. “Loste, those files I had you retrieve were relating to this issue. And now that they have them...shit is about to hit the fan, and get all over fucking everything!” “I still don’t understand exactly what is so bad,” I stated. Captain sighed. “Those files...they belonged to a very important group of three ponies. Young adult ponies. Ever since they were fillies, they had been obsessed with getting their cutie mark.” I pondered for a moment. Cutie mark...what would mine be? Would I get one? Captain continued speaking. “Something very strange happened in their lifetime. They excelled in many different areas, and not so much in others. Nothing ever seemed to be any of their true...purpose, I suppose. They were a melting pot of talent and failures, intelligence and stupidity. They never had a cutie mark, none of them. Never showed up on those poor bare flanks,” Captain explained with a small tinge of sadness. “It had never happened before, making those three very unique. “They eventually started a business when they came of age. They devoted themselves to helping young fillies and colts find their cutie marks, and were extremely successful with their methods. They called their company the Cutie Mark Crusaders, after their club name from their childhood. Eventually, when they acquired enough funding, they began taking up science and technology. Being young, they were quick learners, and created many successful and ambitious projects. Not just related to cutie marks, but also miscellaneous gadgets and magic devices. But they always stayed away from any kind of violence or devices that could cause somepony harm.” We were inching closer to Appleoosa. I was beginning to get very worried about us and Captain. “So what do those files have to do with anything?” I asked. Captain became very worried. “They eventually began looking into soul magic. Very dark and delicate stuff. Tampering with one’s soul is an extremely dangerous endeavor, and is essentially a one-way ticket to absolute disaster. Somehow, the CMC managed to successfully create a magical machine that could find a pony’s talent, and give them an idea about what their cutie mark would be. It was very unstable, but it worked. They barely had any time to refine it before PT took over. Luckily, the CMC hid it in an undisclosed location and kept it a heavy secret. It was also very difficult to use, requiring specific instructions. Those instructions were in that folder.” I still didn’t quite understand. “So what would the Resistance need this machine for?” Captain’s face drooped into an extremely anxious expression. “The machine was not locked down, exactly. You could run your own software on it, it was modular. This means that if you knew how to use it, you could do anything with a pony’s soul. However, in order for it to function, it would require a pony to temporarily feed it magical energy. Not just unicorns, every pony has magic in them. The more ponies who are feeding it, the more power it has.” I was starting to see something very bad happening. “And what do you think they’re doing with it?” I asked, becoming anxious myself. Captain picked up speed again. “I think they’re going to suck the life energy out of a whole lot of ponies, and most likely make Equestria loyal to them.” I gulped. A lot of shit was about to hit a lot of fans.

Chapter 13
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Ripples

Chapter 13

Revival

We finally caught up with the steadily advancing army of Resistance soldiers. Many carried high-tech beam weaponry, enchanted swords, projectiles, and grenades; all of them wore Resistance armor. As we approached, somepony from the army yelled “Halt!” and they all abruptly froze. Turning to face us, they quickly arranged into a heavily defensive formation, with very heavy firepower aimed towards us. From the center emerged a pony completely covered in advanced armor, wearing a helmet with a black visor covering his entire face. Guards surrounded him on all sides.

“Are you on a suicide mission now, Captain?” he asked. His voice was muffled, but sounded very authoritative and important. Captain glared into his visor. “Absolutely not, Sawblade!” Captain responded. His hostile glare strengthened. “Why are you heading for Ponyville? What’s in Ponyville that you need?” Sawblade let out a small snicker. “You know very well what we’re heading for, assuming you took the time to read those documents you uncovered from our embassy.” Captain’s mouth dropped. “Embassy?!” he yelled. “You made a fucking embassy in the middle of my town?!” Sawblade laughed. “How else do you think we knew about that document? We have spies, Captain. And I believe you do as well.” Captain was once again steaming with anger. “Why are you doing this?! What do you want from that machine?!” Sawblade’s visor slid up to reveal an orange stallion wearing an eyepatch on his left eye. Scars covered his face, and he was smiling. “This is not only for the Resistance, Captain. This is more than simply dictatorship. We have affiliates helping us execute this operation, and I don’t think you will be stopping them anytime soon,” he said with a laugh. I realized what that implied. The Resistance had formed an alliance with PT! Fucking Parasprite Technologies! Captain’s face was starting to boil from rage again. I really hope he doesn’t start a shitstorm again... “Show me,” Captain finally yelled. “Show me whatever the fuck you are going to do!” Sawblade grinned eagerly. His visor automatically slid back down, and he yelled. “Bind them and haul them with us!” Oh shit...

~ ~ ~

Some old vehicles had been locked away in case the Resistance needed it. Captain, Rage, the red pony and I were all binded together with rope and tossed into a truck. It was very dark, and we could barely move. And shit, it was painful. The rope kept rubbing against us, and we kept sliding against the walls. I was afraid, something felt very...wrong about the experience, but somehow familiar. It was not a good feeling. Eventually we slowed to a stop, and the doors were slammed open. They hoofcuffed the four of us, and then unbinded the ropes. We had to slowly and awkwardly trot to our destination. Ponyville didn’t look any different than when we left. Old buildings stood rotting, piles of junk were everywhere. The stronghold of PT and their citadel still rose in the center of the town. I hated that building. The simple fact of it being there was unnerving. It was mocking me. We went around the perimeter of the wall, passing various strange buildings. I swear, one building must have been built to look like candy! Eventually, after traversing to the other end of PT’s stronghold, we stopped. All sixteen of our hooves were red and raw, and the hoofcuffs chafed badly. I really hate the Resistance...and I hate PT even more. But the two of them together? Fucking nightmare. The army stopped outside a treehouse designed for young fillies. This too was dilapidated and collapsing, and the tree it was built on had grown through it, and currently did not have any leaves. The interior of the treehouse looked like it may have once been a clubhouse of some sort, with faded and torn remains of posters and upturned furniture. A bird’s nest rested on a ripped couch, stuffing spread everywhere. Sawblade was the first to enter this strange building, keeping the four of us close by. We exchanged worried glances, and then looked forward. The red pony gulped. Sawblade painfully yanked us forward up the rickety walkway into the building. I don’t know how that walkway still hasn’t collapsed, and it felt like it would any moment, but it held us. The inside of the clubhouse was covered in cobwebs. Everything was coated in a layer of dust, causing me to cough. I didn’t know what was going to happen, I couldn’t see anything of any importance here. Sawblade lifted his armored hoof, and a panel slid open to reveal a little...ring...thing. He looked at me, rose his visor, and smiled. Something didn’t seem very reassuring about that smile. He lifted the ring from his hoof storage panel, and approached me. Not good...I tried to back up, but I stumbled on my hoofcuffs and tripped. I lay on my side, hooves awkwardly sprawled to my left, when Sawblade approached. I closed my eyes. Shit was hitting the fan in 3...2...1... Something clicked on my horn. I opened my eyes to peek. A black object obscured the top of my vision, attached to my horn. Sawblade was still smiling. I am not looking forward to whatever is about to happen... Sawblade lifted his hoof again. Inside that strange panel was a glowing red button, almost begging to be pressed. Sawblade pressed it slowly and dramatically, clearly just to torment me. My horn erupted into searing pain, giving me an extreme headache. I screamed in agony, writhing in pain. I felt something warm coming from my horn. I was able to catch a quick glance. Red energy beamed from my horn, leading into some kind of circular area on the floor. I couldn’t watch, the pain was unbearable. Thousands of screams sounded in my mind, begging for mercy. I foamed at the mouth, and my bladder emptied on the floor. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, it stopped. I breathed heavily. My head hurt more than I could ever remember. I felt another ‘click’ and the ring fell off. I opened my eyes, which were streaming with tears. My heart was throbbing in my ears, and my vision was blurry. Sawblade picked up the ring, spit onto my face and then lowered his visor. Captain, Rage and the red pony all walked into the spiral staircase that occupied where the floor once was. Sawblade dragged me down.

~ ~ ~

Captain, Rage, the red pony and I were locked in a glass cell. I laid down, staring at the room from the floor of the cell. I was scraped, battered, bruised, and a bit sticky around the legs. I was also shaking, still in serious pain from the previous event. One corner of the room had all lighting blocked off, and was a dark shadow. The leader of PT had occupied himself in that corner, surrounded by an array of heavily armed guards. It seemed rather unnecessary to hide himself simply in shadows...I could see the soft glow of a monitor inside the dark veil of that corner. The other corner of the room held Sawblade and his soldier army. A wire extended from Sawblade’s helmet into a plug on the wall, transmitting the Resistance leader’s voice over the intercom. In the center of the room was a large machine, with some form of arcane energy held at the top inside a glass orb. It was as if a thunderstorm was raging within that glass container, with bolts of energy zapping all over it. The machine had a door, which was currently locked closed. A terminal extruded beside the door, currently showing a corporate logo. I could barely make it out, however it was apparent enough the letters read “CMC”. A walkway extended over a small gap which led into the door. A conversation was taking place. The loudspeaker crackled, and the voice of the Resistance leader sounded. “I still do not approve of your specific methods, sir. I believe we can take some time to form a more stable-” “No!” the PT leader interrupted. “Absolutely not! This is a very urgent matter, which must be satisfied immediately. I question as to why it still has not been executed?” A crackley sigh sounded from the loudspeaker. “I am not confident in your programming abilities. This machine is unreliable enough as it is, I do not wish to risk any failures.” The PT leader laughed. “I am sorry to hear that you doubt me so strongly. I assure you, all will be fine. Now please, send little...Sawblade, was it?...to activate the process. I want you to see the...improvements we can give him before we start Project Revival in its entirety. He will need to remove his armor.” Sawblade lowered his visor and made a very suspicious frown. I didn’t blame him. Captain looked at me with a worried expression, probably both for my health and well-being as well as the event happening. Sawblade wiggled his way awkwardly out of his super armor. He was very orange...so orange it almost hurt my eyesight. I don’t blame him for wearing the armor, especially with that green mane...is he a carrot or something? He walked to the terminal next to the door. He tapped it with his hoof several times, eventually opening the door. He cast one last glance behind him at his army, I could almost see fear in his eyes. He walked in. The door slid shut behind him, and a single armored pony stepped forward. A panel opened above the terminal, and a helmet extended on an arm from the opening. The soldier removed his own armored helmet, exposing his green mane and grey head. He equipped the other helmet, which was a sleek gray device with some sort of blue gem placed on the forehead where a unicorn’s horn would be. “And now, we begin,” said the leader of PT. The gem on the soldier’s helmet began glowing, and the soldier started breathing heavily. The glass orb on top of the machine began spinning, and the lightning from within began escaping the confines of the orb and zapping the walls of the room. It gradually accelerated, and the lightning became more intense. The soldier collapsed onto the ground, and a pool of blood began appearing around his head. “STOP!” sounded the Resistance leader. “STOP THIS NOW!” The two armies of soldiers turned to face each other, high-powered weaponry carefully aimed at lethal targets on either side. Neither side fired, and the machine finished and slowed to a halt. The door slowly opened, sending a wave of white mist pouring out of the door. As it cleared, a hideous creature emerged. It was Sawblade, but...horrible. He had far too many appendages jutting out from everywhere, and his head appeared to be melted into his neck...and tail. I heard all three of my companions gasp. I could only watch, I was far too exhausted. My head hurt. The last thing I noticed was Sawblade had...a horn. And wings. Then gunfire exploded, and PT clearly had more firepower. Several bullets punctured the glass of our cell, and the last thing I remember was a mare’s voice over the speaker system. “Now deploying tranquilizer gas,” it had said.

Chapter 14
View Online

Ripples

Chapter 14

Experiments

I slowly awoke. My cloudy eyes had much difficulty focusing in the dim light of the room, obscuring many objects. From what I could tell, there was a metal barrier between me and...everything else. I could hear distant talking...wait, not so distant. It was coming from my right?

I slowly moved my head to find the source of the noise. I still had a headache, and my head burst into pain. I managed to push through it and look towards the talking. My eyes found something to focus on, and revealed Captain behind a barrier next to me. His hooves were chained to the barrier...okay, so they’re metal bars. “Loste!” he yelled with a cough. “Wake up!” His voice was raspy, and still seemed more distant than it should be. I moved my head downward as slowly as possible to avoid any potential headache, to find my hooves in a similar situation. The skin was rubbed raw, and I couldn’t feel the area around it. I felt an ache in my horn as well. “Loste...what happened?” Captain asked, concerned. “Where are we?” “I...I don’t...know,” I managed, my throat rough and painful. I let out a hacking couch, sending phlegm onto the hard ground around me. I felt like total shit. Another voice sounded from nearby. “Is he awake?” It was Rage’s voice, pretty much as gravelly as it always is. He didn’t seem physically harmed, but I could hear fear in his voice. “Loste! Help us!” The words flew across my head, useless to me. I was trapped. They were trapped. We were trapped. Everypony was trapped. I could see the brown tail of that red pony across the hallway which ran through the center of our cells sticking out of the bars. I sighed, wincing from the pain in my head. I rested my head on my hooves, staring hopelessly at Captain, who returned a desolate stare. I think the red pony was crying. Lights turned on in a sudden burst of ocular pain, intensifying my eight gazillionth headache of the...day? Week? Doesn’t matter. It hurt like hell, and that’s all that matters. They made a long buzzing drone, breaking the almost silence. It was a strange hum, it didn’t sound like any kind of recognizable pitch but...it hummed. It hummed into my mind, calming it and infuriating it at the same time. I felt sleepy, but I also felt restless. That drone was eating into my mind and causing total chaos within. I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to block out the drone. Suddenly, I felt a very cold sensation on my lower neck. “Aw, is poor Loste getting upset?” I knew that voice. That voice had caused me so much stress...that horrendous voice, it echoed frantically in my mind. Even with my eyes closed, I saw a hallway of PT. It flashed into my mind, that hallway. That damn voice yelled into my ear, telling me to work harder or I would suffer. The vision faded, and my eyes opened. I could only see Captain, however his eyes held a look of severe terror. He was staring right at me...no, right behind me. I began turning my head, fighting the headache. A very cold and hard hand grasped one side of my face, while a soft and furry hand grasped the other. It held my head still. “Ahahah, trying to end my fun, now are we?” the voice sounded in my ear. “I’m sure you’ve worked it out by now I’m the leader of PT, if you have any capability of remembering voices. Except this time, it’s up close...” the hands tightened, and I felt a warm breath on my ear. “...and personal.” Rage was boiling inside me, I felt like I was about to explode and rain blood and guts all over everypony in the room. “Fuck...you,” I managed. “Oh, that wasn’t very nice,” he responded, sarcastically offended. “I think you need to clean that dirty mouth of yours!” A pink bar of soap was in my mouth, out of nowhere. I didn’t see it come in, it was just there. It tasted foul, and I spat it out. The taste lingered on my tongue, sour and disgusting. “Don’t like it? Aw, what a shame. That was a nice, new bar of soap!” the voice sounded. The soap on the floor in front of me suddenly began to melt. Pink fluid spread across the floor, the pool ending just before it touched my hooves. It began rippling, circular waves extending out from the center. An image began to form in the pool. A group of six mares stood in a formation, five wearing some form of necklace, and one - the pony in middle - wearing a crown thingy. Magical energy surged around them, lifting them off the ground which they were standing. The crowned pony in the middle, a purple unicorn, opened her eyes to reveal nothing but white where her eyes would normally be. An enormous surge of magical power blasted from all six of them. I didn’t really care for whatever this crap was, and I tried to wiggle my head free of his grasp, but to no avail. I heard him let out a slight chuckle. The image in the pool began to fade. It reformed into an image of an extremely...strange creature. He was long, sort of like a dragon or a snake...two horns sprout from his head, each seemed like it belonged to an entirely different animal. He had two mismatched arms, one birdlike and yellow, the other furry and animal-like. Hold on a moment... The same magical energy from the previous scene blasted into him, working its way up his body. Terror covered his face, and he struggled as the magic surged through him. He slowly turned to stone, trapped with his terrified expression. The pool faded once again, this time returning to its pink color. The creature’s hands lifted their grasp of my face. I immediately turned to face him, ignoring the pain in my head. The exact same creature from the soap puddle movie stood in my cell, leaning against the bars. He smiled mischievously. “Aren’t I amazing? That act of terror was splendid, it had to be my best acting yet! Of course, I was stuck like that for a few months,” he said, looking at the claws of his bird-hand. “When I was finally released again, I had to spend so much time with this annoying little yellow pony...she was trying to reform me. Can you believe it? Reform me?” I simply gave him a hostile glare. He sighed. “Look, my name is Discord. Awesome name, right?” he smiled. I did not change my expression. “You are just no fun at all. Care for a history lesson?” I finally gathered the strength to speak. “Let...us...go!” Discord laughed. “Oh, but there’s so much fun we could have!” He snapped his fingers, disappearing. I heard Rage’s voice. “Get off me, dammit!” Suddenly, Discord and Rage reappeared in front of me, in my cell. Rage’s tongue hung out of his mouth, and he did not look happy about it. “Puph muh pung buch rught dis phuhkihn instuhnt!” he babbled. I could barely tell what he said, but he sounded pretty mad. I was certainly pissed. “Oh, calm down. I’m just having fun,” Discord said as he flicked Rage’s head. Rage’s face started to steam just like many faces before it. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been able to properly enjoy myself?” Both me and Rage continued with our outrage. Pretty soon somepony is going to start something... Discord tied Rage’s mane into a bowtie, and smiled at his work. Rage’s tongue had somehow returned to normal; he attempted to bite Discord, but he teleported away before Rage could touch him. I felt a warm paw rest on my head, erupting much more pain. I am going to fucking kill that...guy...thing! “You see, I’m pretty certain you’re perfectly aware of Parasprite Technologies. They started off as any other company, just making products. Sure, they had a monopoly on pretty much everything, but they were just a company. But some ponies really don’t like it when one pony or company has absolute control. They’re the radicals of Equestria, always trying to change things...fight the government, fight a company, boycott a product, they’re always up to something.” He lifted his paw off my head, and I heard footsteps pacing back and forth behind me. “But ever since PT acquired such a marvelous control over everything, those ponies got even more audacious and chaotic. The chaos...it was delicious. Opinionated wars between two sides occurred everywhere, and nopony ever convinced anypony to change their opinion. They just kept fighting, arguing, et cetera. I regret to say it, but I actually considered myself reformed after the little...process with Fluttershy.” “So what the hell happened?” Rage asked. Discord let out another one of his mind-fuckingly evil laughs. “The chaos stirred by PT...it made me remember why chaos is so fun! My life had gotten boring, everything was all regulated and was governed by so many rules...but that chaos reawakened me, reminded me of who I was. So I performed a little...experiment on the leader of PT, got her out of everypony’s hooves, and stepped right in.” “Why did you...do this?” I struggled, fighting the pain in my head. Discord teleported in front of me, wearing a silly party mask. “Do what, my good sir fellow? Trap you here? Because that was just so I could explain everything to you in person, maybe wreak a little more havoc on that pathetic mind of yours-” “SHUT UP!” I interrupted. I ignored the headache, as terrible as it was. “Everything! Why did you kill so many innocent ponies?! Why did you enslave the world? Why...and what did you do to Sawblade? What is the reasoning behind this?!” Discord snapped his fingers, causing his party mask to disintegrate into sand and pour onto the floor. “You see, I love chaos. Chaos is fun, and very original!” He snapped his fingers again and summoned a teddy bear, and began ripping its appendages off and sewing them back on in the wrong places. “Sure, practical jokes and tricks with the weather were pretty fun, but something was...missing. It didn’t feel as satisfying as it should have been.” Rage jumped from behind Discord, trying to grab onto Discord’s neck. Discord simply snapped his furry paw fingers, and Rage froze in midair. “I had a spark of...inspiration when I decided to take over PT. A few fights stemming from their wondrous products had occurred in Equestria...not just any fights, but physical, violent fights. They gave me an idea.” Discord summoned a plastic bowl and a wooden spoon, and dumped his teddy bear into it, along with some lettuce and spices. “What would happen to chaos if you simply stirred in a little...pain?” He added a single bullet shell, smiling. The concoction in the bowl began turning red, and overflowed in a gelatinous goop. It corroded into the floor, leaving a burned and sizzling crater. It seemed to spread across the floor, corroding away more and more until it stopped in front of my hooves and settled. I was tempted to back away, but I could only fight off so much pain. “And...Sawblade?” I asked Discord. “I thought you hated the Resistance?” Discord asked, taking a sip from his concoction. “Mmm, spicy!” “Answer my question,” I commanded him. Discord frowned. “Oh, fine.” He tossed his bowl behind him, narrowly missing Rage’s frozen body. It landed near the bars separating Rage and I from everypony else, and the world. It exploded in a cloud of smoke, opening a hole in the bars I may be able to fit through. “All this time...those slaves, the workers, the resources from the Resistance...all of it was for this project. I marketed it as a purification project, to restore Equestria to its former glory. That was all a lie. Ha ha, sorry to rub it in, but you fell for it!” Discord laughed insultingly, sending even more painful fury through my mind. “In reality, it was the stride for ultimate chaos. I alone can only handle so much at a time, a limited capacity of chaos. It’s a design flaw in me, but I found a little...exploit. By siphoning the magic from ponies’ souls, I could amplify my power, and spread it across Equestria!” Discord began doing a strange tap dance, laughing uncontrollably whilst doing so. “Of course, as I was using soul magic to achieve this goal, it had some unintended side effects which related to aspects of a pony’s soul...such as, oh, their race? I personally would say these side effects turned out beneficial for me, as I can create an artificial alicorn! I just need to recruit somepony willing enough to help me out, make them an alicorn, and then nopony can stop me!” Discord let out his largest, most dramatic laugh yet. It hurt my ears. “I just need to keep anypony...unqualified for the job as unqualified as possible. Don’t want any meddlers, now do we? Anyway, Sawblade was merely a test. I combined both branches of the project: my mutation chaos, trademarked by me, and my alicornification. The mutation chaos kept him alive, but in the most painful, horrific way possible, and rendering any of his magic or abilities useless. It cancelled out the alicorn powers, which was exactly what I was aiming for. And both projects were a huge success!” I was beginning to make some connections. “If you’re so powerful, how was I able to escape so easily? Why did I escape?” Discord smiled. “Ah, so you’ve figured out it was all a plan. I admit it, we set it up. And everything went exactly according to said plan!” My mouth dropped open. I had suspected something like this, but...I was simply a minion of his experiments? Another part of his procedure, arranged and built to function just as needed? Did I have any free will? Discord summoned a large, soft red chair to sit in. “Sure, you had the freedom to go wherever you chose, but your recruiting Captain benefit the plan much more than originally anticipated. Oh, the information we were able to extract from your memories! We know practically everything, now!” Extract from...memory...I...what? “Awww, does poor Loste feel violated? Upset that we went snooping in your personal belongings? Well, news flash: nothing of yours has ever been personal. Not even your mind. You’re chock full of little transmitters, the only one you knew about was the body control. You’re a walking satellite! The most information we could possibly acquire from any single pony, or group of ponies for that matter, has come from you!” Tears began forming in my eyes. This had to be a lie, or a dream, or something...this must be false...it CAN’T be real... “If you feel any better, we disabled all of that. We don’t need you anymore. I stuck plenty of devices in that Resistance army we kidnapped, some of them extracted from you. The scars should be there forever, but you’re free of our control. We don’t need you anymore, we’ll just stick you in our shelter, activate my wonderful chaos machine with the help of my Resistance army and their magic, and then dump you into the world. And I’ll just sit back and enjoy the chaos, wherever there happens to be some.” My head was starting to droop. Tears were streaming down my face, but I couldn’t think about anything. My mind wasn’t processing what I was hearing anymore, I felt like a hollow shell of a pony. There were scars on my hooves...everywhere. And dried blood. “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll keep some ponies intact...it’ll be fun! Ponies will start their little heroic adventures to save Equestria, and they’ll all fail miserably. And I’ll be there to watch. Now come on, let’s get you in that amazingly comfy shelter of mine. He snapped his fingers, and my body lifted from the ground to follow him. Rage unfroze and floated behind him as well. I thought I could hear Captain’s voice in the distance. The only thing I really heard was “okay”. That was the only word my mind could focus on...okay...okay. I was levitated along behind Discord, I didn’t care or know if any of my friends were with me. I didn’t feel like a pony. I didn’t feel like anything. Suddenly, everything became black. I faded away to sleep.

Chapter 15
View Online

Ripples

Chapter 15

Final Moments

My eyes slowly opened, dried tears crusted around them. I didn’t remember much of what happened. All I could remember was pain...and suffering. I felt like shit. I couldn’t remember exactly why, and I wanted to keep it that way. Whatever it was, I could tell it was bad. I let out a long sigh. I was lying down on a cold, hard floor. Somepony was laying against me, snoring. It was dark, and I couldn’t see who it was. I lifted a hoof to touch him. He stopped snoring, but continued sleeping. I prodded him several times until he awoke.

“What?” he asked. It was Captain’s voice. I was about to say...something, but then I felt him jerk suddenly. “Loste!” he said, extremely urgently. “...what?” I asked, groggy and unfocused. “Loste, do you know what is happening right now?!” he yelled. I could hear my other companions stirring in the background. “LOSTE!” he screamed, and then slapped me across the face. It hurt, but no more than the hurt I was already feeling. I was starting to remember...an image of a creature entered my mind. I was beginning to make the connections from the previous event in my mind. “Loste, speak! Don’t die on me, Loste! You can’t just die! We have to stop this right now!” Captain urged as he shook me back and forth. Stop wha...oh. Oh goddess...that. No, no, no, this isn’t happening. I am dreaming, this must be a dream... “LOSTE!!” he screamed into my ear, causing me to jump. “Please,” I begged, starting to cry. “Just...leave me...alone.” I laid back down. “We can’t stop it...Equestria is doomed.” I could barely see, but Captain approached and slapped me once again across the face, causing my cheek to sting intensely. “LOSTE! You are not the pony I used to know! Wake the fuck up!” he yelled, once again straight into my ear. “Shut the hell up,” Rage said from behind me. Captain stomped a hoof. “You don’t get it, do you? Equestria is being fucking ruined. Ruined! We have to get out of here and stop Discord from doing this! It isn’t right!” Lights flickered on, blinding the four of us temporarily. As we came back to our senses, the light revealed a somewhat cramped metal shelter which housed us. A large monitor on one wall displayed the last face I would ever want to see in all of Equestria. “Oh, but what if it’s already happened?” Discord said, and let out a maniacal laugh. “The chaos is wonderful! In the first five minutes alone, half of my adorable little creations brutally murdered each other! Here, let me pull up a camera feed.” The screen flickered, and changed to show the remnants of Dodge City Junction. Bloody, desecrated, mutated and bullet-ridden bodies were actually walking around and fighting each other! “Oh, by the way Captain, I love your work here.” Discord’s voice sounded. “The blood puts an interesting accent on everything, and it adds a very interesting twist onto the chaos here. Not only are the ponies hideous mutants, but they’re also zombies! Isn’t it wonderful?” “SHUT UP!” Captain yelled, and charged at the screen. He sent his hoof in a fierce blow at the screen, cracking it on impact. The image remained, however a spiderweb of cracks appeared over most of the screen. Discord’s face reappeared. “Oh, is somepony mad? That was a very expensive piece of equipment, if I remember correctly this one was built entirely using gems minerals Loste collected while he was still just a slave!” Oh, somepony was going to pay for that... “Oh yeah, and Loste, since you had been chosen as our special pony from the start...we kept some of your work as souvenirs, instead of using it for production like our other treasures. Would you like to see? He is not serious...he is not going to put that on the screen...no...NO! The screen changed. A large pile of bloody, severed pony heads rested around a large throne. The horror was still visible in their faces. They expressed grimaces of horror, pain, and fear. Some mouths were open in a scream, others tightly closed. Scars were visible where ropes had been tied across their faces. Worst of all, sitting on the throne was Discord himself, resting his legs on a small pile of heads. His face was stretched into a wide grin, staring straight into my eyes...a crack from the screen passed through one of his eyes. He laughed once again, this time his most evil, mocking laugh yet. No. NO. I began shaking from pure rage. “NOOOOO!!!!” I yelled furiously, and charged at the screen. I jumped and through myself straight into Discord’s face, shattering the screen and unleashing shards of glass all over me and my friends. Magical energy sparked from the destroyed monitor, coming in contact with my flank and paralyzing me. I fell to the floor, heavily cut and bruised from the glass. I couldn’t move. Captain ran to me, clearing the shards of glass from around me. Rage and the red pony assisted by trying to get me to move. I wanted to talk, and tell them I was fine, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t fine. Discord is going to die. I am going to fucking kill that monster. Captain, Rage, and the red pony were suddenly flung from their positions against the wall by an invisible force, and Discord slowly walked in from the now-open doorway, barely visible from my point of view. He walked over to me, and knelt down to my face. “I bet you’re wondering why you, of all ponies, was chosen for this? You’re special, Loste. You’re not like everypony else, you’re better than them. Each and every pony you’ve met is nothing compared to what you’re capable of. I had to make sure that power of yours was used effectively, and it was a tremendous help! Had you never come around, we’d be worse off than before you were severed from the slave network.” He smiled, looking into my eyes. That smile burned into my mind, igniting all of the fury held within me from events past. “You’re descended from a princess, Loste. You inherited some immense magical abilities from your great grandmother. As you know, when Celestia committed suicide on the battlefield, it was so she could transfer her remaining magical ability to Princess Twilight Sparkle, to help her defeat us. But we captured her, and made her reproduce. Oh, how she tried to fight...she almost escaped a few times, that pesky little princess. But that’s when we discovered body control magic...all we needed to do at that point was wait until the perfect foal was born. And it was you!” Discord snapped his fingers, and a party hat and blower appeared in his hands. He fastened the part hat to my head and blew the blower, causing it to unfurl and make a high-pitched noise. It mocked me, burning the noise into my eardrums. “Oh, by the way...happy birthday, Loste!” Discord summoned a small present, wrapped in a blue box and fastened with a purple bowtie. He set it by my head. “Just open it when you’re ready. You’re free to go, you can do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore, my job is done. Just walk out that doorway, and I’ll teleport you far away. Your friends can come with you. Go celebrate your birthday, it’s still early in the morning. You can have a party, and invite all the mutant cannibal monsters you choose. I’m sure they’ll enjoy the opportunity!” Discord laughed one last time, snapped his fingers, and was gone. I could move again. I slowly pulled myself to my hooves. Captain, Rage, and the red pony were in the corner of the room. Captain slowly walked towards me, and stopped in front of me. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and then embraced me in the biggest hug anypony had ever given me. “Happy birthday, Loste,” was all he said. The red pony and Rage approached too, and joined in for a group hug. We stayed like that for a long time, that moment seemed like an eternity. I never wanted it to end, but after a few minutes, it still came to pass...just like every other good thing that has ever happened to me. The four of us walked towards the doorway, without a word. We did not know what lie ahead of us, but one thing was certain. We would face it together.

Chapter 16
View Online

Ripples

Chapter 16

Birthday

Just as the four of us stepped out hooves out of the doorway, a magical blast from nowhere zapped us. Before we even realized what happened, we were standing in an open, grassy field. All of our previous belongings were laid out around us, bags and everything. They were arranged in a strange circle around us, and in the center was the present which Discord had given me.

We looked around to observe our surroundings. It was a pretty uninteresting grassy field. There were a couple trees in the distance, a lake towards the east, and some patches of flowers. No civilization in sight, although I must admit it was quite pretty here. I felt much better...rejuvenated. I looked down at myself. Scars still dotted my body, showing the places the...sensors had been placed. I pushed that thought behind me. Focus on the present... Captain finally spoke up. “Loste...I know we’ve been through some rough times and all, but...I need a break. And I’m sure you three do, too.” Rage and the red pony nodded in agreement, I simply stared at the present. Why would Discord give me a present? What was in it? Would it kill me? “I have some food in my bag...well, I did. Doesn’t look like anything was taken, but I’m going to check,” Captain continued. He walked towards his bag of supplies, and withdrew some boxes of cereal. “Apple Crunch” was printed on the box, large and colorful. It was faded and torn at this point in time, but it was apparent enough what was inside. Captain opened it and poured it into four separate piles on the grass. “I don’t have any bowls...should taste the same. I imagine we’re going to have to make do with a lot worse in the future, so enjoy it while you can,” Captain stated. He bent down and took a bite from his pile, chewing for a few moments and then swallowing. His face relaxed, and he leaned further back. Rage was next. Skeptical at first, he took a small nibble from his pile, and then immediately took an enormous chomp. As he looked back up, Captain’s questioning glance caused him to smile, embarrassed. Dried cereal fell off his cheeks, and we all let out a small giggle. More cereal fell from his mouth as he laughed, only intensifying the laughter. I even laughed a little... Me and the red pony took a bite at the same time. As I bent down and closed my mouth around the pile, an amazing fruity taste covered my tongue. It was sweet and sugary, and tasted of apples. My mind seemed to clear itself, relaxing my muscles and calming me. I hadn’t felt this good in a long time... We all laid on our backs, staring into the clear sky. The sun had just recently came over the horizon, starting a new day. Birds chirped overhead, flying in formation towards the lake in the east. It almost felt as if nothing was wrong in the world... “Hey guys,” Captain spoke, breaking the silence. I turned to face him. “I know these past few days have been rough...believe me, I know. But just being here, with you guys...I feel like I’m home. I never really had a home, an army base, sure, but not a home. Ever since I met Loste, though, I felt more like I had a purpose. Like I could do something important with my life...as important as the Rebellion may seem, it wasn’t a job for me.” I reached a hoof over to Captain, touching his hoof with mine. He looked at me and smiled, his eyes glistening in the sunlight. “I still don’t have a cutie mark, and I don’t know if I ever will...but it seems we all share that in common. I just have to wonder...was us meeting purely by chance, or were we meant to be together? Are there others we’re destined to meet, and help or recruit? Are we the only ones?” I could hear somepony crying. I looked to my left. It was Rage. I lifted my other hoof to his, linking us together. He opened his watery eyes and smiled. The red pony understood, and linked his hoof with Rage. “Captain,” I said. “Thank you. Thank you for everything...all of you. Thank you for giving me the best birthday I’ve ever had. Even though we probably have a lot of troubles ahead of us, and probably pain and misery...remember that I’ll always be there for you. Even if we’re separated, I’ll always remember you...thank you. I love you all.” I started crying. Not from sadness, but from happiness. I have found my place in this world, and I have friends there with me. We could take on this world, as long as we stuck together. A cool breeze brushed past us, sending my mane into my eyes. It felt nice on my skin...

~ ~ ~

We had all fallen asleep sometime sooner, and I was the first to awaken. It was midday, and we were starting to get hot. I walked over to the others to wake them up, starting with Captain. Once everypony had been awoken, we set out towards the lake. After gathering our belongings, I decided to take Discord’s present with me. I don’t think I was ready to open it yet, but I wanted to keep it...I didn’t know why. Discord was the entire reason my life had been so terrible, and yet...I wanted to keep his present. Evil as he was, this present didn’t seem...evil. I didn’t feel insecure with it, or worried from it. I just wasn’t ready for what was inside. The lake wasn’t too much of a walk away, it was nothing compared to some of our previous expeditions. When we got there, we bent down to take a drink. The water tasted somewhat foul, but it was a welcome refreshment nonetheless. We decided to sit down and take inventory once we had finished drinking. The red pony was the only one of us not to have any items, but he seemed fascinated with the loot we’d collected. As Rage and I laid out our advanced weaponry on the grass, the red pony was investigating them with intense curiosity. “Hey, don’t touch them,” I scolded. “They could seriously hurt somepony!” He looked almost guilty, but continued staring at them. I didn’t blame him, I still felt like an outsider to the rest of the world. I’m sure we all do...even the red pony. Speaking of him...what was his name? “Hey, uh, red pony...I still don’t know your name,” I stated awkwardly. He looked at his hooves disappointingly, upset with my comment. “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you or anything,” I tried to comfort him. “It’s just-” “I don’t have a name,” he interrupted. To be honest, this wasn’t all that bad compared to some of the shit I’d seen, but I was still confused. Captain butted in. “Remember what I said about how names reflect parents’ emotions? Well, the red pony here...he never knew his parents. They were taken by the Resistance when he was born, and he was left to die. This was in Vanhoover, around the time when I was a young colt. I don’t know many of the details, but somepony found him and took him to this family in Las Pegasus. Well, turns out a foal was a bit much for them at first...” The red pony walked away, towards a lone tree. After he sat on the other side, Captain continued the story. “There was a Resistance raid one day...they still hadn’t thought of a name for him yet, but they had to hide before the Resistance could find them. They hid in a wine cellar, locked it shut. He didn’t understand at the time, though...he cried. The Resistance pried open the container and shot his parents on sight. Somehow, he was able to escape before they could hurt him, and he traveled all the way to Baltimare. I don’t know what exactly he did there, he seems very defensive and secretive about his past life. As far as I know, he grew up there, learned how to be independent. One day we crossed paths near Dodge City Junction, and he recognized me from some posters we had hung around Equestria. We actually had a functioning printer back then, but most of those posters have blown off somewhere, probably into the ocean. “He decided he wanted to join the Rebellion. I was a little busy with some diplomacy and collecting supplies, but I sent him towards our base in Fillydelphia. Several months later, we crossed paths again. This time we had a special infiltration mission on a Resistance base, this base was particularly tricky. It was his first special operation, he gained permission to go after his performance saw a huge increase. I don’t know why that was, but he sure seemed a lot happier about then...” Captain looked back towards the red pony. He had been looking at us, and quickly turned his head back around. “I don’t know what happened to him, or why he’s so defensive about it, but he’s obviously distressed. I’ve tried to help him, but I’d just been so busy all the time with the Rebellion and whatnot...” Captain looked in the sky. “What happened to the Rebellion? Are they still alive? Do they still consider me their leader? I don’t know much about the world anymore...” I patted his back gently. “It’s okay...we’ll make it,” I told him reassuringly. “Like I said, I’ll always be by your side. I have to wonder, though...it’s so peaceful here. And beautiful. If the world is so horrible, then where are we? Also, how did you learn as much as you did about...him?” Captain sighed. “I still don’t know about our location, but the only times I was able to squeeze any information out of him was when we were on missions together. I’ve always been an active leader, participating in as much as possible. Dangerous, sure, but it was enough to keep my mind off of...things. Some of the soldiers tried to name him. I’ll admit, most of them were pretty crude and often rather harsh, but even the legitimate names never stuck with him. He always wants to be anonymous. The only name he’s even showed any consideration of would be ‘Anon’. He doesn’t respond when you refer to him that way, but he doesn’t reject it like all the other names. Anyway, It took him awhile, but I think he’s gotten pretty comfortable around me. I just wonder if he’ll ever tell anypony what his life was really like...” Both of us looked towards the red pony. He had moved slightly farther from us. Captain sighed. “Don’t bother him about it. It will only make him upset. I’m sure it will just come out...eventually...” Suddenly, everything became black. I couldn’t see shit, and neither could Captain. I could hear Rage complaining nearby, and I didn’t know about the red pony. I began panicking, feeling frantically for Captain. I accidentally slapped his face, causing him to moan in pain. “Sorry!” I told him, confused and frightened at our sudden blindness. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, the tormenting voice of Discord boomed from nowhere. “Oh, hello! I hope you had a nice birthday. That was actually just a little magic simulation, some technology invented just before the war. That place doesn’t exist, I just thought it would be a kind gesture to let you spend some time in peace for your birthday. I’ll admit, that was quite touching, what happened in there. I almost started to-” “STOP!” I screamed, interrupting. “Discord, stop this! Just let us go!” “You sure are eager to leave...don’t worry, you’re almost free. For real, this time. I was only trying to be nice, though...” “I don’t think you’re capable of being nice, you asshole!” I screamed into nowhere at him. “How do you explain your collection of my ‘work’? The fact that my entire fucking life has been planned out for your benefit?!” The lights turned on, we were back in the same room as before. The TV remained shattered, although the glass had been cleaned from the floor. Rage, Captain and I stood in a group in one corner, the red pony laying in the other looking horrified. Discord himself stood in the doorway, annoyed at my outrage. “Look, just because I am a creature of chaos doesn’t mean I can’t be nice every once in a while. I pity you, did you know that? That is why I’m letting you live. You actually did something for me, as horrible as it was. So I extend my thanks to you for helping me all this time.” I didn’t believe it. Something was wrong here. “Discord,” I began, staring into his cold, cruel eyes. “Did you ever have any friends?” He flinched. He actually flinched. What...? I could see tears forming in his eyes. He quickly blinked them away. “I...did. She’s gone now. No concern of yours,” he said quickly. “Now please, get out.” Er...she? Captain and I exchanged confused glances. “I said get OUT!” Discord commanded, snapping his fingers. The four of us teleported in a surge of magical energy, disappearing from the room.

Chapter 17
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Ripples

Chapter 17

NOTICE:

If you have not read this chapter yet, disregard this message - it makes no difference to you. In the dream at the beginning of the chapter, the coach’s name has been changed. This is due to changes in the future storyline which would have conflicted with this name. Thank you.

Chapter 17

The Outside World...Again

I stood among my fellow recruits, awaiting the results of our fitness exams. We were in formation, in order from largest to smallest. I was very far on the small end, which was yet another reason for the other recruits to bully me...I never wanted to join the Equestrian Army. It was my family that enlisted me, without telling me until after it was done. They never told me why, but I hate them for that. I was perfectly happy with my previous job before they had to step in and ruin everything.All twenty-eight of us remained standing in an upright position, not saying a word. If we broke formation or caused any disruptions, all of us knew we would be kicked off the Army in a heartbeat. As tempting as it was, I couldn't disappoint my family like that. I stared off into the grassy field we were placed in. Other squads of recruits trained in various areas, cycling between the areas every few minutes. First they would run an obstacle course, then they would target practice, then they would wrestle...it was all part of the Equestrian Army selection process.To be honest, it was almost unnecessary, as just about everypony was let in. I snuck a peek at Stormwing further towards the larger end of our arrangement. He was so beautiful...I quickly snapped my eyes back into place when I heard our coach coming.“EVERYPONY, ATTENTION!” he yelled, and we all snapped our eyes straight at him. He was Captain Sarge, one of the most valuable ponies in all of the Equestrian Army...also one of the dumbest-named ones. It was very clear he did not particularly care to be here.“I’m sure you’re aware of some...conflicts going on in Equestria as of this very moment, correct?” he asked.“Sir, yes sir!” we all chanted in sync.“And you are here today to put a stop to this mess, correct?”“Sir, yes sir!”“I’ll have you know all of you passed your exams. Whether you deserve it, I am doubtful, but that’s what Celestia ordered.”Damnit.“Now, march and get ready for your first real training exercise!” he yelled.“Sir, yes sir!” once again, and we turned and marched back towards the army base.

~ ~ ~

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt a cold, hard surface below me. I was laying on my side. There was gunfire nearby...“Loste!” I heard Captain yell, and some of the gunfire stopped. “Thank Celestia, you’re awake! Get the fuck over here and help us!”I lifted my head. What the hell kind of dream was that...more importantly, what was going on?! My assault rifle had been set next to my head, fresh clip already loaded. Captain, Rage, and the nameless red pony (Anon?) had weapons of their own, and were shooting. They were all shooting in the same direction, and blocking my view of what exactly was happening, but I got the message. I forced myself upright, shaking off the cloudiness from my odd nap, and grabbed the assault rifle.After standing upright, I ran to Captain’s side. My questions as to what we were shooting were quickly answered: an army of mutants. I did not recognize this area, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the details at this moment. I began firing at the army of mutants. They had maintained their former equine shapes, but appeared...molten. Their colors faded into each other, their faces goopy and lifeless. They limped towards us, although at a surprisingly fast pace. Every time a bullet hit, bloody rainbow goop would seep from the wound.Almost every shot was hitting its target just fine. That wasn’t the problem...the problem was they weren’t dying. We maintained a formation, firing wildly at the advancing army. With every second, they were inching closer and closer. A very select few dropped to the ground as we fired, but it did nothing to harm the entire army. There had to be at least fifty...A squishy sensation erupted in my side as I was flung straight into Captain, sending us both onto the hard road below. My assault rifle skidded just out of my hoof’s reach, and one of the mutants jumped on top of us. It made a terrible screeching noise, its eyes melted into its head and its mouth an open hole on its face. Its skin was blue...although faded from the mutation. I tried to swat it with my hooves, but it didn’t even flinch. It just squished disgustingly every time I hit it, getting my hooves covered in slime. I could smell it, a terrible, rotten smell...I started gagging. It began flailing wildly, bashing anywhere it could reach on my body. Captain had been crushed under me, now suffocating from my weight.I tried to wrench myself out of the creature’s grasp, but it continued beating and held a firm grip. I felt a squishy hoof smack across my face, sending a harsh stinging sensation through my mind. I reached for my gun...I couldn’t reach, only by a couple inches.“HELP!” I screamed. I tried to fight back, but the mutant pony continued whacking me. I was becoming bruised all over, even bleeding in some places. I tried to slam my hoof into its face as hard as I possibly could. I felt it lift from my body and fly to my left...did I really just...?Rage stood beside me, covered in zombie slime. I immediately lunged straight for my assault rifle, I could hear Captain gasp for air as I removed myself from on top of him. The same zombie-pony slammed itself right back into Rage, pinning him onto the ground. I swung my assault rifle down to face it, and pulled the trigger. Bullets sprayed into its head, sending bloody rainbow-covered goop all over Rage and I. Some of the bullets impacted Rage’s stomach, I hoped it was nothing fatal. The zombie-pony fell limp to his side, bent awkwardly.“Sorry,” I yelled at him, turning back around to assess the situation. Captain had gotten back on his hooves, and was now prying a red zombie-pony from Anon. Rage pulled out a pistol and charged at Anon, firing with astonishing accuracy into the zombie-pony’s head, splattering Anon with more of the bloody rainbow goop. The zombie-pony’s head slowly stretched from the neck, eventually separating itself and landing in Anon’s lap. The body collapsed by his hooves, this one also limp. Anon jerked and shoved the head off his lap, screeching in disgust.The four of us regained our position and weaponry, and continued fighting. They were coming from all directions now, so we adjusted our formation accordingly.“Maybe if we wait for them to get close enough, and then aim for their head as they lunge, we can kill them!” Captain yelled over the gunfire.“Good idea!” Rage yelled from beside him. The gunfire softened, turning less frantic and more focused. Any time a zombie-pony got within close range, one of us fired straight into its head. We managed to hold them off for a while, slowly but surely shrinking their numbers. Any time one of us had to reload, we would step into the center of the group and the others would close into a triangle until the reloading was finished.I shot at a strange combination of two zombie-ponies, one black and one orange. They had fused together, and were limping awkwardly at an angle at us. Their front hooves and tails were mended together, along with most of their flanks. It was just like killing two of them, although somewhat easier due to their slower speed. It was still fucking creepy, though. We had reduced their army to about ten. I stepped into the center of our group to reload, Captain and Anon stepping in to cover me. I reached for another clip, realizing I had none left. “Uh, guys...I’m out of ammo!” I yelled at them. “Don’t you have more weapons?!” Captain yelled back, shooting his assault rifle into another zombie-pony. “Our bags are in a pile, go grab something!” I jumped out of the protective formation to look through our bags. I couldn’t see them anywhere, the bodies of zombie-ponies covered the ground. I dodged the remaining zombie-ponies, working my way around and peeking through openings in the corpses. Eventually I found them, hidden behind a small pile of bodies. I shoved them out of the way, toppling the stack. More of their disgusting goop covered my body, quickly drying into a crust. Ignoring it for now, I pulled out my bag from under a zombie-pony. I took out a strange weapon I do not remember seeing...as I pulled it out, Discord’s present rolled out and the lid popped open. I could see something purple sticking out, but before I could investigate a zombie-pony screeched at me from nearby. I took the weapon, a very streamlined and shiny piece of metal, and cantered over just enough to avoid the zombie-pony’s lunge. I pointed the strange gun and pulled the trigger. An enormous blast of red energy erupted from the barrel, sending the gun flying from my hooves and somewhere behind me. It threw me onto my back, slamming into another corpse. After sitting up, a pile of ashes remained where the zombie-pony was moments before. The ashes were still smoking, with some red embers in the pile. I stared in shock. “I don’t know what that was, but we could sure use it again!” Anon yelled from the triangle, which was now being overtaken by the zombie-ponies. They were getting dangerously close to them, so I ran back towards the odd weapon and grabbed it. I steadied my hooves firmly into the ground, bracing myself for the force of the shot. I aimed it towards the group of zombie-ponies, pulling the trigger once again. Holding the weapon still this time, I was able to fully observe the effects of its laser. A red beam of magical energy shot straight towards two zombie-ponies, impacting right in between them, singing their tails. A harsh red flame erupted from the point of impact, spreading extremely quickly to consume their entire bodies. Smoldering, reddish ash fell from where they were once standing, smoking and burning the corpses they landed on. It was over in less than a second, and it looked cool as fuck. I fired three more shots, finishing off the last of the zombie-ponies. We were left in an ocean of faded colors, rainbows, ash and blood. We breathed heavily, recovering from the battle. The stench was terrible, and was only now starting to set in. I covered my nose with a hoof and waddled back through the corpses towards our bags. “You guys okay?” I yelled, my voice muffled and odd-sounding. “Nothing fatal,” Rage yelled back. “Fucking hurts, though!” Better than dying, I guess...I made it back to the bags. I began gathering them up into a neater pile when I noticed the open present laying on its side. I stared at it for a moment. Well, it’s going to come open at some point... I dumped the contents of the box onto the ground. A figurine of a purple pony fell out, along with a small piece of paper. The purple pony was an alicorn, with both wings and a horn. Her mane was a very dark bluish-black, with streaks of pink and purple. She stood in a regal position, smiling gently. The figurine stood on a golden base, which was engraved with the word “MAGIC”. I set that aside and turned the note over. A small message was written haphazardly in pencil. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOSTE. THIS WAS YOUR GREAT GRANDMOTHER. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. ALSO, THAT BEAM BLASTER IS FOR YOU. YOU’RE WELCOME.” Discord had signed his name at the bottom of the note. I stared at it, taking in the message. After what Discord had done and showed me, I had thought he was completely evil...I don’t know what to think; first he goes and enslaves Equestria, confines himself to a small area with his little settlement of slaves while he lets the rest of the world sort of rebuilt itself, releases a slave and by extension his entire population as part of some evil scheme, and then sets off a magical weapon to royally fuck over Equestria...then he gives me a birthday present? And quality time with my friends? Something was weird here... “What are you doing?” Captian asked, walking over towards me. I quickly shoved the note and figurine into my bag. “Nothing,” I said nervously. “Just...thinking about what happened.” “Right,” he responded. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not. “I think we should try and figure out where the hell we are.” So we packed our bags and prepared to leave the area. We had no idea where we would go or what we would do, but we couldn’t sit here in an ocean of rotten zombie corpses forever. Once we were packed up, we headed towards the nearest buildings.

Chapter 18
View Online

Ripples

Chapter 18

Walking

We trotted around our strange location. Some more mutants roamed the area, but they were typically alone and easy to kill. It was a very large city, and we had fought in one of the many areas which had been cleared for further expansion. Now that everything had calmed down, we had a better opportunity to observe the surroundings.

The city was divided into several different areas. We couldn’t see all of it due to the city’s massive size, but a business district and a residential area were visible. Towards the south could possibly be a marketplace, although it was hard to tell from where we were standing. We decided to head that way, hoping to find food. I spoke up as we trotted along the roads. “Guys...I’m pretty sure we were right when we predicted things would get a lot harder. We need a plan for when this kind of thing happens.” “I personally thought we did pretty well considering how unexpected that was,” Captain responded, “although I do agree. The chances are slim that we’d make it through if it were to happen again. Plus, we don’t know much about Equestria anymore. Its past, sure, but not the present. We don’t know what kind of monsters to expect, or how to fight them. We need an adaptable strategy.” “I also agree,” Rage jumped in. “Equestria is clearly not going to show us very much mercy in the future. Even a filly could see that some fucked up shit is definitely going to happen to us at some point!” Anon remained silent. I spoke again. “We need some emergency tactics. I don’t know how exactly making battle strategies will work until after we know how to fight something - I believe we already figured out how to deal with these slime zombies. But for things we don’t know about, we should focus more on how to escape or solve problems. If we have an emergency procedure, or tactic, or whatever to follow, getting out of tough situations may be easier.” We passed by a building decorated with colorful graffiti. Whoever wrote it sure didn’t seem happy with Celestia... “Still, it needs to be heavily adaptable,” Captain continued. “We don’t know where we’ll end up, or what we’ll be fighting. We could try and make a long list of possible escape plans, although I think it would be better to form some kind of signals we could give each other in battle...you know, ‘go this way’, or ‘shoot over there’. That way, we can coordinate our escapes or battles as we fight.” I spoke once more. “Well, before we make some kind of elaborate battle strategy, we should probably find some food and water. I don’t know if your cereal actually helped us or anything in Discord’s simulation, but right now I’m starting to get pretty hungry.” We walked in silence further south, keeping a sharp eye for any buildings that looked like they may contain food.

~ ~ ~

My stomach let out a long, deep growl. We had been walking through this city for an hour or so, and hadn’t found anything. All of the buildings looked like boring office complexes, and any sings that may have told us anything about them had been destroyed or defaced to the point of being illegible. Rage had began complaining about the pain in his stomach. “Will you shut up already?” Captain scolded, annoyed with Rage’s constant whining. “It fucking hurts, I’m hungry, damnit!” Rage exclaimed. Anon had continued to remain silent the entire time...he almost looked anxious. “Can we all be silent for a while?” I asked, fed up with Captain and Rage’s constant bickering. “Maybe then we could focus better on what buildings we’re passing!” Captain grunted. “I keep on telling you, we’ve gone in a circle! There’s no way this city could be this big, and this clearly is only a business district!” I sighed. “You’re the fucking leader of the Rebellion. Haven’t you seen some giant-ass cities at some point in your life?” “Well maybe if we just went the other direction, we would have found something!” Captain rebutted. “WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!” Anon suddenly yelled, making the three of us jump. We stopped walking and stared at him, mouths agape. “Thank you,” he said and continued walking. We followed along, giving each other angry glares but without saying a word. After a few minutes of silence, an idea crossed my mind. “Captain...do you have any, uh, transmission devices in that bag of yours?” I asked, looking at his bag. “So what if I do?” He responded, still annoyed. “We could split up and tell each other if we find anything!” “What if we get lost?” I thought for a moment. “Do you have any flares or smoke signal-y type thingies?” Captain sighed. “Yes, although I don’t have many. Should be enough to give each of us three smoke flares. I also have some cheap headsets, although their range is terrible and they snap easily.” I sighed. “Is the crappiness of your supplies an omen or something?” Captain snorted. “Probably.” “Well, let’s get this shit over with then,” I said. We stopped at an intersection, and Captain dug through his bag for the headsets and smoke flares. He pressed some buttons on the headsets and spoke into them to test if they were working - his actions would lead me to believe they did. Captain started explaining how to use the smoke flares. “Okay, so these smoke flares send a plume of smoke into the sky, they’re designed to be visible almost anywhere - except at night. Just pop the cap off and drag the little fuse across something rough, like bricks or the road, and it will start smoking. They’re one-use only, though, and if you set out the fire it won’t work again.” The three of us nodded, and took the headsets and smoke flares. “Loste, you keep going south. I’ll go east, Anon can go west, and I’ll go north,” Captain told us. “Just speak, and the rest of us will hear it. They will start to crackle when one or more of us gets out of range, so turn back when that happens. If we don’t find anything, meet at this intersection before the sun sets. I’m sure we can arrange anything else if we have to, assuming you follow my directions, but I am saying this anyway to make sure nopony fucks anything up.” “Yes, sir!” the rest of us chanted. Captain smiled.

~ ~ ~

"Anypony found anything yet?" I asked over the headset. I had been walking for a while, seeing nothing aside from the same dull passing buildings that seemed to have absolutely no importance to anything. "Sort of," Rage responded, his voice crackling from the feedback of the cheap headset. "There's this donut shop here, it's the only thing that looks mildly interesting in this Goddess-forsaken city." "Be careful, Rage," Captain warned. "You don't know what's gotten into those donuts after, what, two hundred years?" "Looks to me like they've been locked up pretty good...in a safe...protected by robots..." I spoke up. "You're telling me you found a stash of preserved donuts guarded by a fucking sentry robot?" "Eeyup," Rage confirmed. "Must have been good, too - there's a pricetag...fifty bits!" Captain laughed, sending a wave of crackly air into our ears. "Fifty bits for a donut?! What is this, Canterlot royal donuts of magic, with enchanted frosting?" "Pony Joe's, sir," Rage answered. "This is the Vanhoover establishment, according to the poster on the wall...I have to say, this building is in very good condition compared to practically everything else in Equestria." "Vanhoover..." Captain muttered. "It must be summer, normally it's much colder up here. I thought it was the middle of Spring before...it happened?" Nopony responded, apparently none of us had been keeping up with our seasons. As I was walking, I remembered something... "Captain," I said. "If this is Vanhoover..." "Ooohhh shit," Captain said slowly. "Er, Anon...red pony...whoever you are...are you there?” There was a pause, and then a blast of static sounded in the earpiece, causing me to flinch. It slowly faded to a small ambient crackle, and then to silence. “...Loste,” Captain said slowly, worry in his voice. “Do you know what makes that sound happen?” I remained silent, frozen in my place. “...it means a headset was destroyed.” Oh fuck... “Well then shut the hell up and get back to that intersection, we have to help him!” Rage yelled into the headset. I immediately turned around and ran back down the street, directly towards the place I had come from. We had only been walking about fifteen minutes, it wouldn’t take long...

~ ~ ~

We finally made our way to the intersection, and turned in the direction Anon came from. We all converged paths at exactly the same time, as if Celestia was helping make things easier. We charged as fast as our hooves could take us, speeding down the road faster than I’d ever run before. Even more of the seemingly endless buildings flew past us, a blur in the corner of my vision. I was focused straight forward, looking for Anon. Our hooves were moving so fast, anything that was watching probably would have gotten dizzy just watching them. After what seemed like an eternity, we saw a body on the ground. A red body. Next to a building. We dashed straight for him, the three of us skidding to a perfect stop next to him. We immediately ran to him, checking if anything was wrong. He appeared perfectly fine, physically. We let out an enormous sigh of relief, our exhaustion starting to catch up with us. He was, however, crying. “Anon...it’s...okay. We’re here,” I said, pausing in between words to take breaths. “What’s...wrong?” He continued crying, ignoring us. “Uhh, here’s his headset,” Captain said from behind me. It had been smashed onto the road, almost flattened. Bits and pieces were strewn across the ground near it. “These things are so cheap,” Captain commented. “No wonder there were so many of them.” I was less concerned about the headset and more about breathing...and Anon. “Hello? Are you okay?” I asked him. Rage pulled out a water bottle from his bag, and opened the cap with his teeth. “We got you water,” he said. “Do you want it?” Anon shook his head very slightly. Well, it was a start... “Anon,” I began. “It’s oka-” “My name isn’t Anon,” he interrupted. “I hate that name...” Captain spoke up. “Then how come you never disagreed to it, like the other names?” “I DON’T. FUCKING. LIKE IT! JUST SHUT UP!” he yelled, stomping his hoof on the ground. “Ano...uh...nevermind. Please, tell us...what’s the problem?” I asked, concerned for...him. “Everything,” he responded, pausing for a moment. “Me.” “You...?” Rage asked. “Yes, me. My life. My family. My past. Me.” “Why are you so sad?” I asked. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings any more, but...you’ve been so secretive about yourself. Maybe we can help? I care about you, you know that? Even if I don’t know you, I trust anypony Captain trusts.” “You can’t help,” he bluntly responded. “You can’t change the past.” I paused, saddened by his comment. “The past is past us. What’s to say you can’t change? Whatever’s wrong, you can change it. The future can be changed. The past doesn’t change the future, you do.” “The past has changed me,” he responded. “I’m not going to change. I’ve changed far too much to do it again...” “Ano- uh...look, forget the name. We didn’t mean to upset you with it. I don’t know what to call you, nopony does. Anon is the only thing anypony’s ever been able to call you.” “Do you know how much it stings when you say that name?!” he yelled at me, finally picking his head up and facing me. Tears ran down his cheeks, his eyes red and bloodshot. “I...I...I’m sorry,” I stammered. “Of course you’re sorry. You’re all sorry, I can see it. Don’t be fucking sorry, I don’t deserve it. I’m worthless. Why do you ponies think I’m of any importance to the world, or that I can help you? I was abandoned as a foal, left to rot and die. Do you know WHY?!” I was silent. His outburst was starting to worry me. “I was never supposed to fucking happen! My dad just suddenly appeared one day, went around fucking all the ponies in Ponyville, and then left. Never to be seen again. I am the result of that. I WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BORN!” He stomped his hoof, more tears streaming from his face. He crawled his way up from the ground, stumbling slightly. He turned towards a building behind him. “Do you know what this place is?” I looked at it. It just looked like an old dilapidated, abandoned building. Paint was peeling, chunks of the wall were missing, it appeared to be collapsing from age. It looked even worse than the other buildings here, which hadn’t fared too well either. “I WAS BORN IN THIS SHACK! This worthless fucking run-down shack! My dad was an unknown stranger, my mom was a jackass showoff. It’s not hard to find these things in the news, you know - just find a fucking newspaper! All you could ever care to know about your parents, right there!” He was clearly angry, staring into my eyes with a burning hatred...I began to feel guilt. Like I had wronged him somehow. What did I do? Captain finally spoke up. “Uhh, I see one problem with that life story of yours...Ponyville’s been taken over by PT for 200 years or so now, and if you’re talking about who I think you are...she died before PT took over. There’s no way... “Oh, but there is. You know why I’m stuck in this wasteland? In this miserable shadow of a once-thriving world? My mother, a shameful phony overrun with guilt, stole a time spell from Canterlot and sent me far into the future. That’s why I’m here. Stuck with you ponies, in what’s probably the shittiest time period anypony could be in. Why haven’t I just killed myself yet?” I butted in. “No, please...don’t do that! Please...don’t! I understand you’ve had...problems...but please, we need you!” “For what?” he asked. “What have I done for you besides be somewhere near you? I’ve hardly even said anything!” He began walking slowly towards me, snorting with anger. “What have you done for me? Made some pretty words in a place that didn’t even exist? Gave me food? How does that make me any different from any other scum in this world? What have you done to show that you care for me?” “YOU’VE ONLY JUST MET!” Rage shouted, sprinting towards Anon/whoever and sending a hoof straight across his face. “SNAP OUT OF IT! What’s gotten into you? Why are you doing this? We can help you!” “How?” he asked. He was approaching Rage now. “How will you help me?” Rage drew his assault rifle and pointed it at red pony/Anon. “I don’t know, but I will shoot if you touch me.” “Really? Prove it. Shoot me, anywhere.” Rage froze. “Are you...serious?” “As serious as I will ever be. Any of you, shoot me now. Kill me, get me out of this mess.” “NO!” Captian yelled, hurting my ears. “What happened to you?! I’m fine with you being quiet and depressed, but suicidal? Are you insane? If you want, leave us. That’s fine. But don’t kill yourself!” “I’m not going to kill myself. You three will kill me.” What? Did he just...? “I’m not going to kill you,” Captain said. “None of us will.” “Even if I kill you if you don’t?” The three of our mouths dropped. “Ten,” he said. We frantically looked at each other. Anon pulled out a pistol. “Nine.” He pointed it at Rage’s head. “Eight.” He moved it to my head. I began sweating. I can’t do this...no... “Seven.” He pointed it at Captain. Captain began sweating himself. He looked at me, a look of desperate pleading in his eyes. “Six.” He pointed it at me again. That’s not fair! My teeth began shattering. I can’t do this...I can’t run either, or he’ll just shoot me... “Five.” Back to Rage again. Rage maintained his posture, but was clearly sweating. “Four.” Once again, the gun pointed on me. I couldn’t watch...I closed my eyes. “Three.” I began hyperventilating. “Two.” I felt like I was about to pass out. “One.” I heard a single shot.

Chapter 19
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Ripples

Chapter 19

Return

I felt dead. Like there was no hope left in Equestria. I wasn’t sure if I was actually dead, or who else would be dead. I couldn’t feel my eyes being squished shut...I couldn’t tell what was happening. All I knew was somepony important has just died.

A voice broke the silence. “Ugh, I didn’t want you to kill each other.” I knew that voice. I managed to open my eyes. I was still alive...and Rage...and Captain. Anon lay on his side...there was no blood. A small needle with a feather on the end stook out of his neck. As my eyes refocused, I finally saw Discord himself standing in the doorway of the old shack. He was holding a cheap-looking weapon, almost tube-like. “Normally I wouldn’t care who kills who, but you guys are so...entertaining to watch squabble to try and save the world, as hopeless as you are. I didn’t bring my bag of infinite popcorn to watch the best entertainment I’ve had for two hundred years kill itself,” he said, holding a full bag of popcorn. He tossed some into his mouth. I was feeling conflicting emotions. Anger and hatred for his previous actions, confusion, even a small amount of sorrow...it was like chaos in my brain. I tried to think of something to say. “I...you...what is happening?!” I yelled. Discord let out a small giggle. “I just dropped you into Vanhoover, multiplied its size by about...fifty times or so, and watched you argue. It was fun until you split up, which got a little...boring. I decided to give Anon...er, whatever he’s called, a little bit of anger, just to see what would happen.” I snorted in fury. “A little? A LITTLE?! He tried to fucking kill us!” Discord frowned, leaning against the cracked door frame and shoving more popcorn in his face. “Look, miscalculating dosages of chaos happens from time to time, I make mista-” “NO!” I interrupted, stomping my hoof. “WHY DO YOU MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE?!” I forced myself to breathe for a second, collecting myself enough to talk. “First, you kidnap us, taunt us, destroy the fucking world, then you go around and give me birthday presents? Make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Then you go and make one of my only friends try and kill us, or us kill him? What are you?!” Discord sighed. “I’m a creature of chaos, I’m sure you know that by this point.” He snapped his fingers and summoned a glass of pink liquid with a curly straw, sipping it slowly. “I don’t always feel like killing ponies, sometimes I want to be nice. Other times, I want to have fun. Sometimes I want to destroy the world. And sometimes I actually feel sorry for myself. There’s no telling what the emotions of a creature of chaos will be, you just have to hope for the best...” I still glared at him. He looked down at me, snapped his fingers again and a pink frosted donut appeared in front of my face. “Here,” he said. “This should make you feel better, I don’t want to hold you up any longe-” “NO!” I said, slapping the donut to the ground with my hoof and then smashing it. “I’m not eating any of your shit! You are going to make this city its normal size again, and get us the fuck out!” Discord sighed, and snapped his fingers once more. The glass of pink liquid and the smashed donut both disappeared. “This city is boring anyway, I just stuck you here as a sort of...tutorial to my new and improved Equestria. Just name a place, and I’ll teleport you there. Just pick something that’s fun to watch, please.” I continued with my hostile glare. Captain finally spoke up. “Before you send us anywhere, tell me...are there any survivors? Other than us? And what happened to the Rebellion?” Discord laughed. “Oh, there’s plenty of survivors. Your Rebellion...they still exist, I suppose, except they’ve been missing a leader for three months now, and a third of their forces have been killed or mutated.” Captain grit his teeth, and charged at Discord. Discord snapped his fingers for the gazillionth time, teleporting a few meters to the side. Captain crashed into the wall of the old shack, causing the structure to wobble and crack even more. Captain fell to the ground, dizzy. “Three months?!” Rage yelled. “How did you keep us locked up for three months?!” Discord laughed again. “To prevent you from meddling with anything important, I just sent you a little way into the future. No big deal.” Rage snorted, his face wrinkled into an offended grimace. I continued staring angrily. Discord looked into the air. “You know, I’m starting to get bored of snapping to make things happen...any of you know something cooler? Armpit farting, maybe?” We simply stared at him. Captain finally picked himself from the ground, and shook the dust off his body. Discord frowned. “Such a shame none of you are creative enough to give me something...I’ll just try different things until something sticks. Now, where is it you want to go?” Captain spoke up again. “Take me to my main base. I want to see the Rebellion. They deserve to know I am still alive.” Discord smiled. “Should be fun to watch. Just don’t get yourself killed, I quite enjoy your shenanigans.” He reached his paw under his other armpit, and lowered his claw-arm. It produced a loud, obnoxious farting noise, and the four of us disappeared in a poof of rancid-smelling green smoke.

~ ~ ~

Captain Sarge had us arranged in yet another line. His Angry Redness seemed especially cranky today, it seemed as if his five-o'clock shadow was even darker than usual...well, he clearly had bags under his eyes. We had completed our briefing for the Equestrian Army, learning the basics of army life. We were about to be sent on our first mission. "Listen here, you worthless cunts. Now that we're out of the little foal's playground that is the selection fields, I can talk to you like real ponies. We're going on a mission to fuck some shit up. Do you hear me? Fuck. Shit. Up!" "SIR, YES SIR!" we yelled. "I'm sure you're aware that many high-profile ponies have been murdered around Equestria, lately," he continued. "It's taken us a while to learn exactly who was in charge. We're still not positive, but we have an idea. Some suspicious activity has been monitored coming from the building of Parasprite Technologies. I'm sure you mindless zombies are aware of them, their products are in every fucking home in Equestria. Strange magical energy has emnated from their buildings, not the kind of magic you'd expect from standard manufacturing." He walked up to one of the ponies in line. He was a black pegasus named Eclipse, a cutie mark of a telescope. "You look awful smart, at least for a recruit," Captain Sarge said, uncomfortably close to Eclipse's face. "S- Sir, yes...sir!" Eclipse said, stuttering in nervousness. "Say it like a stallion, you idiot!" Captain Sarge yelled, slamming his hoof into Eclipse's cheek. "SIR YES SIR!" Eclipse said very quickly. "Good. What do you think a strange magical signal means?" Eclipse froze for a moment, then quickly burst into words. "Well, uh, maybe it's a trap...to make us come, just so they can hur-" "NO, you idiot!" Captain Sarge interrupted. "It means something suspicious is happening, and it's up to me to stop it. Go run around the selection fields, five laps." He slapped Eclipse across the face again, sending him running frantically for the selection fields. Captain Sarge walked back in front of us. "We are going to march into their building and interrogate them, guns at the ready. I do the talking, you cunts just make sure I'm not killed. Look like you're tough and important, I don't want to fuck this mission up." I know for a fact that was NOT the mission plan we had been assigned, but anypony with brains knows not to argue with- "U- uh, sir...that's not the plan...we were assigned," somepony asked from the end of the line. Was he trying to get himself killed?! Captain Sarge turned to face this earth pony at the end of the line. "And you doubt my superior plans, you little bitch?" "I- uh...I...n- no!" He said, shrinking back. "Really?" Captain Sarge said sarcastically, a magic glow surrounding his horn. "I swear, your plan is perfect, nothing bad about it, it's completely-" the pony tried to redeem himself. "SILENCE!" Captain Sarge yelled in his face, and lifted the pony straight off the ground with his magic, sending him flying into the wall of the training building we were standing near. Upon impact, several cracks spread across the surface of the wall. The rest of us quickly turned our heads back forward, awaiting Captain Sarge's next command. "I hope the rest of you assholes are smarter than that. Mission starts in thirty minutes. Meet me back here on the dot, or you will be punished!" Captain Sarge yelled. We immediately dashed back towards the army dorms to suit up.

~ ~ ~

I slowly came back to my senses once again. As my eyes opened, I felt soft grass brushing against me. A cool breeze blew across my body, and I heard birds chirping. I pulled myself off of my back, up off the ground. "Oh look, Loste's finally awake," Rage commented from my right. "It's about time!" Captain exclaimed from my left. As I brought myself up, I saw we were at the edge of a small forest. Trees stood around us, and the open field near Fillydelphia stretched to my right. "Why are you falling asleep on us like this? You've been out for an hour!" Captain asked, a half-disassembled pistol in his mouth. I pondered telling him about the strange dreams...were they anything? I had no idea what they meant, if anything. It was weird, that's for sure. "I...uh...I'm...adjusting. To the...world, and...places." I stammered. "Because the world is, um, new. To me." My face began to blush. "Right," Captain said, skeptical. I am such a bad liar... "So, uhh, what are we gonna do now?" I asked, noticing Anon was nowhere in sight. Rage answered. "Well, Anon...or whoever the hell he is, went off to find some wood or maybe some food. He seemed eager to get away from us." Captain continued. "When he gets back, though, I want to go back to my base. See who's left or what happened. I can't imagine what the Rebellion must be like, missing me for three months...and what about the Resistance? They lost Sawblade..." I was as lost as he was, and I began thinking about the recent events (that's another thing I seem to do a lot). "Captain," I began. Captain raised an eyebrow. "Discord can control our emotions...make us feel, uh...not how we should feel. Doesn't that make you feel a little, um...insecure?" Captain thought for a short moment. "You have a good point, I certainly don't want anypony messing with my feelings...must be terrible for Anon, of all the ponies who could have had that happen." I nodded. "But still...after today, or, yesterday...or, whenever, I think we really need a new name. I think that in his fury, he let slip his deepest secrets, which he would have never told anypony otherwise. I don't know much about secrets, but that can't feel very good knowing you let them all out like that." Captain nodded. I continued. "I don't doubt any of it, which is why it must be so hard for him. We just have to do the best we can to make him feel better." Captain smiled. "Loste...you're a good pony." I smiled back. "Maybe I am, but what's fun in being good if you don't have other ponies to be with?"Captain smiled even bigger. Rage finally spoke back up. "Okay, this is sweet and all, but you two have gotten all mushy and heartwarming an awful lot lately. I'm starting to think you two might be a little, um..." Captain and I instantly blushed and shook our heads furiously. "No, no, that's not anything close to what's...uh...I'm not, er...we're not...um...like that," I babbled. "Er, what he said," Captain stated, his face as red as...um...the flower he was sitting next to. (Analogies are hard!) Did my face look that red? Rage giggled. "Okay then, whatever you say." Captain and I continued blushing. A rustle sounded from my left, and Anon...red pony appeared holding a bundle of sticks in his mouth. Upon seeing Captain and I's expressions, he raised an eyebrow. I facehoofed. Anon spoke in a quiet, nervous voice. "So...uh...let's get going?" I nodded slowly. The four of us packed our bags and left in the direction of Captain's camp.

Chapter 20
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Ripples

Chapter 20

The Survivors

The four of us walked in the direction of the Rebellion main headquarters. It was a little ways away, as we had apparently been teleported on the opposite side of Fillydelphia. Luckily, the open fields surrounded it on almost all sides, making the journey easy and straightforward. We decided Anon still needed some time to recuperate, so we stayed as silent as possible. I was thankful for the silence, as I had some much-needed time to think.

These dreams I had...they were strange. Not like the normal, bizarre, no-sense-at-all dreams. These felt...different. Like there was meaning behind them, like I had them for a reason. I almost felt ridiculous thinking about them this way, surely they were just dreams... no. They were more, I could tell. I seemed to take the role of some mare, a recruit in the Equestrian Army...this must have been before the war. Or was it during? I have no clue. Small droplets of rain began to drizzle from the sky. Small patches of sunlight were still exposed in the clouds, and a refreshing breeze blew across my face. The grass rippled in the direction of the wind: Fillydelphia. Captain sneezed. Who was this mare in my dreams? Why was I dreaming about her...about being her? I’m quite positive even my wonderfully creative brain couldn’t process a past environment as convincing as that, let alone so many characters. I still don’t think I should tell anypony, though...it just doesn’t feel...right. Something crunched under my hoof, and I stopped to examine. The other three noticed my abrupt pause, and paused to see what I had found. I lifted my hoof from the soft grass, and a mass of strange green goop rose from beneath my hoof, connecting it to some kind of squished blue bug. I looked at it with a disgusted grimace for a few seconds, and then wiped my hoof on the grass near it until it had been completely cleared of bug guts. Captain shot me a confused look. “We’re fine, carry on,” I told them, and we continued walking.

~ ~ ~

The steady drizzle had increased to a small downpour in the time which had passed. The camp had finally entered our eyesight after about twenty minutes of walking. It was still quite the walk before we actually got there, but it was clear enough to see what was happening - not much. Many corpses were strewn around the landscape, although it was unclear if that was just from the previous battle, or mutants. Two equine shapes trotted towards the camp from northward, small and mostly indistinguishable from this distance. Some other unknown shape was moving from the opposite side of camp, but one of the laser turrets fired with a loud electric crackle and disintegrated it. “Well, glad to see that’s working,” Captain commented. “I was worried about those. Also, that probably means there’s at least a few ponies still there.” “The question is, though: whose side are they on?” Rage asked, his green mane becoming soaked by the rain. It was a very strange contrast to his orange hide, and honestly looked a little ridiculous. I decided not to comment, I don’t know Rage well enough to assume what his response would be. Another large crackle sounded from the direction of the camp, however not from a weapon this time. After a few seconds of random noise, a voice boomed from the camp. “This is a safety protocol. Ponies approaching from the southwest, please identify yourselv...uh...wait...is that...I- I...Captain?!” the voice stuttered. Captain stopped moving and smiled, waving his hoof. “I...uh...this is an urgent message! Captain has returned! He is coming from the southwest! I repeat, Captain has returned!” the voice then said, clearly exuberant. “Heh, feels good to be important again,” Captain said with a blush. A small squad of ponies haphazardly poured from the exits of the camp, merging into one group and charging straight for us. Holy crap, they are fast... Within seconds, the entire group had come near us. As soon as they saw us close, however, they all skidded to a stop and collapsed into a great heap of armored ponies. A helmet rolled out from the pile, landing in front of my hooves. The four of us looked at them quizzically, eyebrows raised. They quickly rearranged into a crowd. “C- Captain!” somepony yelled. “Where have you been?!” Somepony else yelled. “What happened to your wing?!” another soldier called, and the others immediately silenced. Captain’s face turned from a modest blush to a look of severe shock. “Well...um...I...” he began. No other words seemed to come out of his mouth. “How could this have happened?” One pony said, stepping out from the mass. It was a blue mare with a black curled mane, and a small pink bow in her hair. She wore no helmet, and was only covered in torn leather armor. ‘TEMPORARY LEADER’ had been carved into her side. “You LEFT us!” she yelled, stomping her hoof. “Why? First you bring back this mysterious pony from nowhere, then you start going on some kind of stupid adventure, next thing we know Dodge City Junction has been brutally wiped clean of life. Then you just disappear for three months, and suddenly the world turns to absolute, mutated, freaky shit.What happened?!” Captain was stammering. “I, um...I don’t...er...we...I...” “SHUT UP!” I yelled. I had to stop this. “Forget about Captain’s wing. He’s alive, he’s still a pegasus, even if he can’t fly. We have much more urgent matters on our hooves.” The mass hushed as I spoke, and murmured softly. “We know what happened to Equestria,” I told them. “No, we did not cause it, nor did we want to. We would appreciate it if you took us back to camp and let us rest for a little while, we’ve been through a lot of crazy shit recently. I’ll explain everything later!” They murmured amongst themselves for a few seconds, and then the leader mare spoke again. “We accept. We’re really just glad to see Captain’s still alive, we were about to have a funeral. Not much of us are left, you know...” She looked back at the base. “Whatever happened, most of the Rebellion was mutated or killed by the monsters. We were either lucky or quick learners, that’s how we managed to escape alive. Took us weeks to reclaim that base from the monsters...” Captain began talking. “I- uh...I’m...sorry,” he stammered. The mare twisted her face in confusion. “You didn’t cause this, did you?” He shook his head slowly, a look of guilt in his eyes. The mare just raised an eyebrow and turned around to lead us back to base. “Name’s Daisy Petal, by the way. Call me Daisy,” she told us over her shoulder, and we followed the mass back to base.

~ ~ ~

Most of the old tents and buildings destroyed in the battle with the Resistance had beeen repaired or repurposed in the time we were gone, and anything that could be salvaged was taken and put to use. We had a small tour of the new and, uh, improved version of the base. The inner walls were rearranged, the tents which had survived were moved, and one corner of the area had been converted into a 'miscellaneous junk' pile.After Captain had seen all the most important changes to the base and let his presence be known to the survivors, we were taken into what was once Captain's quarters for a meeting."I think it is best to start with a quick history lesson of the past three months," Daisy explained from the end of a makeshift table fashioned from scrap metal, trash and fabric. "For some time after your initial departure, nopony really thought much of it besides you just...having fun, or something. We didn't exactly know why you had left, but it wasn't of too much concern. We began growing worried, however, when Dodge City had been brutally murdered, we started to worry about your location." Three observers had accompanied us in the meeting. It wasn’t exactly clear why they were here, as they seemed rather quiet.Captain was clearly growing uncomfortable about the subject. Luckily, Daisy didn't seem to notice."It was an extremely brutal and merciless attack. After investigating the bullets scavenged from corpses, they appeared to have come from a BUCK-47 assault rifle. The citizens had almost no defense, and were slaughtered or left to die. I am amazed at how so many ponies could have been killed by one small attack!" Daisy looked at Captain and I."Do either of you know any of the details?" Captain and I exchanged a quick worried glance, and then shook our heads. It would be a miracle if she didn't notice something suspicious going on. To my horror, her face turned to a skeptical frown."I do not know how this intel correlates with any of these events, but DNA tests reveal small traces of Captain's blood," she spoke.Captain's face began turning an extremely bright red. Daisy's face became even more skeptical, and mine became very apprehensive."Nevermind that for now. Not very long after that little...event, the Resistance got very quiet. As in, 'no attacks or suspicious actions' quiet. It was as if they pulled a PT on us," she continued. "Two soldiers volunteered to investigate, despite our continued efforts to deter them. They insisted, however, and made the trek to the Resistance main base. Only one returned, claiming the base appeared abandoned - the defenses were still active, however, resulting in the death of his friend. Before he could make any viable observations, he fled the area."Captain's face had mostly returned to normal. Daisy passed out some kind of snack cakes to the members of the meeting, which actually turned out to be quite delicious."So what did you guys do after all this?" Rage asked from beside me."I was about to get to that," Daisy said with a hint of annoyance. "After about two weeks of missing Captain, we decided to elect a temporary leader until you returned, assuming you did. The popular opinion was clearly Lightning Strike, he had more than twice as many votes as the runner-up...me." Captain looked up from munching furiously on his snack cake."Things went okay for a while," she continued, "albeit slightly chaotic. Roughly two and a half months from your disappearance, the most strange and bizarre thing happened. A blast of magic seemed to surge across Equestria, a huge shockwave emanating from somewhere to the west. Every living thing felt the effects, it was as if a wind slammed into us. Next thing we knew, mutant monsters roamed the land, many of them had once been us."Captain spoke again after swallowing a huge gulp of his snack cake, finishing the last of it. Crumbs dotted his mouth and chin. "What happened to Lightning Strike?"Daisy sighed. "Killed within minutes of the event by who we think used to be Palm Leaf."Captain frowned, looking at the table. "So many of us...killed, mercilessly." Tears began forming in his eyes. "I...I've seen so much in such a short time...nothing is the same. My hope is gone, Daisy. I thought everything would be okay for a while, but...I- I..."I reached over a hoof in an attempt to comfort him, feeling quite hopeless myself...tears were starting to form in my eyes."WHY?!" Captain yelled, tears pouring down his cheeks. "Why did this happen?! All of this?! Goddesses...please..."I started to sniffle. He was right, why did any of this happen? How could the world itself be so cruel? Not just to me, or us, but everypony...everything. All thanks to Discord, that fucking son of a bitch. How could he have done this? Why did he do it?Captain was bawling, screaming like he was trying to expel all the pain from inside him. I felt a void inside me...guilt, sorrow...and...anger. I stomped my hoof on the table."Shut up, dammit!" I yelled to the members of the meeting...well, they may not have been talking in the first place, but fuck if I cared."The details about our stupid adventure are pointless. All you need to know is PT was behind this! Their leader is Discord!" As soon as I spoke the name, everypony who was not in our traveling circus gasped. "He had been building a machine to do this to Equestria. Not just that, but also to create alicorn slaves for his own selfish reasons! Discord. Must. Be. Stopped!" I screamed, stomping a hoof on the table with each word. The table collapsed inward into the floor, disintegrating and scattering around the room.Everypony looked at me in shock and awe. Captain's bawling had reduced to a withdrawn sob. One of the observers responded."I trust you will explain the smaller details later. I also trust any friend of Captain. I will spread the news, and assemble all remaining troops of the Rebellion. Meeting dismissed."We all slowly walked out of the meeting room, revenge on our minds. Well, on my mind, anyway.