Prologue – Subject 42

Clouds… Clouds of thoughts… No… Not thoughts… Consciousness? Yes, I could feel myself actually waking up!

“Subject 42… Can you hear me? No need to talk, just simply nod or shake your head.” I did as I was asked and nodded my head sleepily. I tried to move my hooves to no avail, seeing as they were all strapped into some sort of machine.

“Good… Don’t try and move, you’ll find that to be quite a painful experience.” I looked down as far as I could to see various wires sticking out of my body. Needless to say I began to panic. I began to try and open my mouth to plead with my captors, but found that I was for some reason unable to speak.

“Do calm down. We promise not to hurt you as long as you co-operate. We’ll enable your ability to speak in a moment, we just need to ensure your vitals are up to standard first.” I began to twist my head in hopes that I might be able to catch a glimpse of my captor. Unfortunately I had no such luck. I had no choice but to hope he kept his promise not to hurt me and do what he says.

“Sir?” I turned my head once again hoping to at least spot a sight of the second voice. It –like the doctors' voice- came from behind me. So obviously my head jerking was to no prevail.

“Yes? Can’t you see I’m trying to get Subject 42 stabilized?” I heard a couple beeps behind me, followed by a small feeling that pressure had just been relieved from my throat. “There, you should be able to talk now. Please don’t be rude and interrupt me though. They’ll be plenty of time for talk in a moment.” I heard hoof steps walking away, until they faded into a room somewhere behind me. With the sound of a shutting door, I was left to myself and my questions about where I was.

First of all… I couldn’t seem to remember anything prior to losing consciousness. All I knew was that long ago the world had been devastated by something called a Mega-Spell… More specifically a lot of them. The last thing I remember was that I was in the mountains to the north for some reason… For what reason, I cannot recall. Other than that, I couldn’t even recall my own name… Or even what I looked like. I stopped racking my brain trying to remember what had happened as I heard the door behind me open once more. My eyes went wide as the pony that had been speaking to me earlier entered my sight. A vision of him standing over me in a snowy field flashed through my mind. I was sure that the vision was what had happened right before I had lost consciousness.

“Good morning… Or evening. I can never tell anymore. Anyways, hello Subject 42.” I opened my mouth and tried remembering how to speak. Within seconds I was pleased to realize that I had not forgotten how to speak.

“Where am I? What did you do to me?”

“I realize you have many questions, but frankly that doesn’t matter. I’m going to be the one asking you the questions. Tell you what, I’ll answer one question for you. If you remain calm and do as I ask, then I’ll answer more.” I began to think of a question, and asked the one that made the most sense.

“Why can’t I remember anything?”

“A minor side effect I assure you. Can’t promise you that you’ll ever recover them, since our other subjects still haven’t. Not that your past matters now!” He began to laugh. Somehow I was unable to find the humor of me not being able to even remember what I look like. After he finished laughing, he turned away from me and turned on a projector, which brought up a image of a large landmass titled “Equestria”.

“As you can see from the name, this is Equestria. All you need to know is that is the continent we are on, and that we are here.” He pointed to a remote looking area in the northern mountains. “Now that you know all you need to know, I’m going to ask you some questions.” As if sensing that I was about to remind him of my amnesia, he continued. “It’s just a small quiz to see if you have lost all your memory. If you show signs of having retained some memories, then you’ll be moved onto the next stage. But if you haven’t retained any memories at all… Well let’s just say you won’t be needing to remember anything ever again.” My heart skipped a beat as he said that. Was he seriously going to kill me if I couldn’t remember anything?

“You can’t do th-“

“First question: What’s the name of the old pre-war research city near here?” I begged my brain to remember, but it kept pulling up blanks.

“I don’t kno-“I stopped mid sentence as another vision washed over my mind. This one was of a large city that was split into multiple sections; a large tower in the middle. As soon as the vision appeared, I remembered where I had been before I had been captured. I had been heading to this city to do… Something… On the way there I was ambushed by a group of armed ponies with the pony in front of me heading the attack.

“It’s called… Dammit…” I squinted my eyes as hard as possible hoping to force a better image of the city to the front of my mind. After a moment of doing so, I prevailed just long enough to see a billboard near the outskirts of the city with the name of the city on it.

“Shattered Gleam.” He smiled as I answered, then began to write something down on a clipboard with his mouth. How did he manage to even do that?!

“Excellent. Question two: What are the six ministries?” I blinked once at him, then shook my head.

“No idea. Never heard of them.” He frowned and began to write something down again.

“Third Question: Do you remember anything of how you got here?” I allowed the vision of my attack to play in my head once again. I had been walking to the Shattered Gleam for some reason, and was attacked just as I got to an overlook. Despite my anger at him attacking me, I miraculously remained calm as I replied.

“Yes, you attacked me. I don’t remember anything before that.” His eyes lit up as another smile took over his face. Once more he jotted something down and then turned back to me.

“That’s amazing! Nopony has remembered that part yet! I usually have about ten questions, but that alone shows that you are not a failure. Of course I have to make sure, so I’m going to jump to the final question. Do you want to leave?” I looked at him with disbelief. If I said yes, would he just let me go? What if yes was the wrong answer? But then again… If I said no, then he would be able to keep me here.

“Yes.” He looked at me with a blank expression, and then placed the clipboard on the table next to him.

“You still have some free will it seems. That’s exactly what I was wanting. Unfortunately I can’t allow you to leave, but rest assured you’ll be well taken care of.” He reached his right hoof up and pressed a small button on the device I was attached to. Immediately the machine began to whir and buzz as I felt the straps around my hooves began to loosen. I hadn’t realized how tight the straps had been until they began to release. Once they had loosened enough for me to get a little wiggle room, I noticed that I had no feeling in them.

“Are my hooves supposed to be numb?”

“Don’t worry. We probably just attached them too tightly. You haven’t been up there long enough to cause permanent damage, so just relax and they will respond.” I slowed my breathing despite how scared I was. I still had no idea what these ponies wanted with me, and frankly, I was afraid to find out.

“Just in case you are exhibiting anger that you’re not showing, you’ll be released once I’m out of the room. My safety is insured, but if you were to attack me… Let’s just say I’d be dealing with Subject 43 sooner than later.” He picked up the clipboard with his mouth and exited the room. A couple seconds after he left, the braces around my hooves unlocked sending me to the ground. A rush of pain overtook my body as the wires I was connected to ripped themselves away from my body.

For about two minutes I laid on the ground resting with blood flowing freely from my wounds. The wires had to have been pretty deep to be bleeding like that, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t bleed enough for me to die. Surely they wouldn’t allow me to simply lie in here bleeding? I nearly jumped off the floor as a loud burst of static from the intercom overtook the silence of the room, followed immediately by the voice of the pony that had just been in here.

“Can you move? Try to stand up. After that, simply walk around for a few moments to get used to moving. Do that, and we’ll bring you a potion to treat those wounds.” With a grunt, I pushed upwards until I was standing with shaky hooves in a pool of my own blood. Still shaky, I began to place one hood in front of the other until I was slowly making progress into moving forward. After a moment of doing this, I was used to moving again. The feeling in my hooves was even beginning to come back.

“Good. Don’t make any sudden movements. I’ll be there in just a moment with a healing potion.” I continued to stand in spot awaiting the cure to my pain. As the feeling to my hooves returned, the pain from where the wires disconnected out of them grew. And honestly, I wish my whole body would be numb just so the pain would go away.

I looked over my body to the best of the abilities to examine the damage. Pain grew to fear as I saw that I had holes from the wires in every possible location on my central body. From the pain I could feel, I suspected that the wires had started being connected around my collar bone area. And from what I could see, they went from there to just before my flank. The blood flow was bad enough that the light blue of my coat was now darkened to a near blackish color. I stopped examining myself as the pony walked into the room holding a bottle of a pinkish liquid.

“Here, drink this. It will speed up your body’s natural healing to make the wounds close.” He walked over to me and placed the small glass vial on the ground in front of me. I began to reach down with my mouth to pick it up, before he stopped me.

“Did you forget that you’re a Unicorn? Do you remember how to levitate items?” I shook my head right before another image flashed into my mind’s eye. This one was of a note – the writing unreadable- floating in front of me with an aura of purple around it. I assumed that it was floating because of me.

I focused on the potion and began trying to make it levitate. I was amazed to see that it was immediately surrounded in an aura of purple just like that from the flashback as it began to float in front of me.

“Ahh excellent! Now we don’t have to go through the rigorous process of re-teaching you magic. Do you know anything else besides just levitation?” I closed my eyes and began to search the deepest recesses of my brain trying to see if I did indeed know more magic than that. Sure enough, I did know a couple more spells.

“Yes.”

“Like what? No, don’t tell me. Go ahead and drink the potion and I’ll show you to a training room so you can practice your spells.” I gratefully chugged the entire potion, leaving not a single drop. After I finished it I placed the bottle on the table. I began to feel a sense of being warm, which caused me to look back over my body once more. My eyes went wide as I saw the holes in my body closing up slowly; the blood flowing from the slowing until the wounds were fully healed. There wasn’t even a scar left over, and even my coat had replaced itself, leaving no sign that I had ever had multiple holes in my torso.

“Amazing isn’t it? The pre-war ponies truly were geniuses. Too bad they had to go get themselves blown up.” The pony turned around and began to look for something in a cupboard. When he did, I purposely knocked the bottle on the ground, shattering it into a bunch of tiny pieces.

“Sorry! I was trying to levitate it again and accidentally lost focus. I’ll clean it up.” He gave me a look of disapproval, and then with a shake of his head he turned back around and began to search the cupboard again.

“No, I’ll take care of it. Save your magic for the testing area.” I smiled and picked up the largest shard and hid it behind my ear, concealing it with my mane. A couple seconds later, he turned back around holding a vial of an odd colored liquid.

“Take this. It’s a special blend of potion that only we make. Drink it and you’ll find that you’ll be able to focus on your magic longer. Obviously you need it if you drop a simple glass vial.” He handed it to me and gestured for me to drink it. Honestly, I was reluctant to. Upon smelling it I was greeted with a foul smell that actually made me cringe. After a few seconds of trying to coerce myself into drinking it, I managed to force myself to drink the foul liquid. Honestly, it tasted a thousand times worse than it smelt. Almost bad enough to make me throw up, all though I did gag.

“That bad? I told them to add some apple juice to it to make it better, but did they listen? Nope. They complained that apples were rare! Bullcrap, they can grow more!” I continued scraping my hooves on my tongue trying to get the taste out of my mouth. Even though the taste was worse than anything imaginable, it did seem to work. I felt as if I could levitate the machine I was hooked to by just glimpsing at it. It was if I had been given a brand new brain only for the use of using magic.

“Is it working?” I nodded to him. “Excellent! Sure you could eat mentals to gain the same feeling and effect, but why risk addiction? I hear getting addicted to those things is just horrible. Plus these potions have a longer lasting effect, even though they have the taste of a dead ghoul. Anyways, our business here is done. Shall we go to the training room?”

“What for?”

“We need to make sure you are good enough to last in a combat situation.”

“Combat situation?! What for?”

“Just a formality. In the case that you are good enough to last, you’ll find the lands surrounding the Shattered Gleam are dangerous. We may still be in the Equestrian wasteland, but the Shattered Gleam has its own creatures to fear. Those Hellhounds cower before the horror that is the Stare.”

“Stare?”

“Mutated Cockatrices. At one time they may have just turned you to stone and left it at that. Not these things. These will immobilize you with a stare that seems to freeze your very soul. After that you’ll pretty much be their toy until you either die or break out of the spell. Either way, you’ll most likely be ripped to shreds by that damned thing before you have time to get away. And from what I’ve seen, you most likely won’t be dead until all your legs are gone.” I simply stood there looking at him. I tried imagining a pony screaming bloody murder as its legs were ripped of it, with horrifying results. I just hope I never ran into one.

“Anyways, you need not worry about that. Just follow me to the training room and we can test the extent of your magic.” He pointed a hoof towards the door and began to walk towards it. I was surprised to see the door slide into the floor below it as he neared it. I couldn’t recall if doors normally did that or not.

I followed him down the hallway to a large door that four ponies could fit through side by side. As we neared it, this one went not into the ground, but split in half and slid into the walls. Once inside, he pointed to a nearby door with his left hoof as if telling me where to go. Obviously, I did as asked and neared the door. Sadly, this one did not slide into the ground or the walls.

“Go ahead and wait there. I’m going to go to the command room. Once I’m there, the door will open and you may begin the test.” I nodded halfheartedly to the pony. It had just now occurred to me that I had not gotten his name. He probably wouldn’t tell me anyways. My thoughts went from those of my captor, to the room in front of me as I heard a buzzing noise followed by the door opening. I was slightly disappointed when this one opened on a hinge rather than sliding into the ground.

Cautiously, I stepped into the room and began to examine it. To my right was a wall with targets consisting of various materials. Some I recognized from my shattered memories; some were completely foreign to me. Each one had something in common however; none seemed to be of any value.

“Start at the right, and go to the left. You’ll notice the objects get larger, which is good. Start with simple levitation, and then move steadily onto any stronger spells you know. Once all targets are of their respective pressure plates, the door to the next room will open. You may start.” I looked up at the glass room to my left. I could tell that more than just the one pony was in there, but I was unable to see any of their faces. Just silhouettes.

I walked over to the marker on the ground that I assumed indicated where I was to stand. After taking my position, I did as he asked and levitated the first two objects off their pressure pads and threw them at the ground. The third one, I decided to unleash a spell that might have some use later.

For the third object, I focused all my energy into my horn and aimed my head down so my horn was pointing at it. Once I was sure I had enough magical energy gathered and I was on aim, I let loose a blast of magical energy the size of my horn. It wasn’t much, but would get the job done. I quickly counted the remaining objects. Three down, four to go.

“Do you know anything that might knock down two objects at once? Out in the wastes you’ll need to at least immobilize a group of enemies for a moment.” I once again searched my mind. Somehow I had managed to make a mental spell book of spells I knew, so gaining access to what I knew was quickly becoming easier. I just wish I had a spell that made somepony regain their memories, because not even knowing my name was getting pretty old.

I returned my focus to the fourth and fifth target, and placed my hooves firmly on the ground in prep of my next spell. Once I was prepped, I focused energy into my horn once more and began to charge it until I had a slight headache. Quickly I took aim and released the energy towards the target. Unlike my previous spell, this one was akin to a form of force push; knocking the two objects hard into the wall behind them. I felt a slight sense of pride as I heard hushed talk from the glass room behind me.

“That’s amazing! Of all the subjects so far, you’re the only one with this much experience in magic! Normally we would simply have you knock the other two down then move on… But we are going to test the full extent of your magic. Put the objects you knocked down back on their respective pressure plates.” With a slight grunt that I hoped they didn’t hear I did as asked. Once they were back up on, I once more heard the crackle of the speaker from behind me.

“Good. Now see if you can knock all seven items off at the same time. If you can’t, then just knock the rest down by any means necessary then move onto the next room.” I opened my mental spell book and searched for something that could knock all seven objects down. Once I found a suitable object, I braced myself and began to focus all of my magic into my horn a final time. This time I did get a headache, but it would most likely go away soon. I opened one eye from its squinted position to see if the force-field was forming. Sure enough, I could see a faint outline of where it was supposed to be.

The outline surrounded all the objects in a large ball that went all the way to the back wall. Once I was sure the force-field was fully formed, I pushed the force-field against the back wall with enough force that the objects all went flying. Gratefully I released the burden of magic from my horn and dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

“Using a force-field as a weapon? That’s definitely creative. If you have a headache from that, you’ll find another focus potion on a table to the right in the next room.” I sat up and with heavy breaths, began to make my way to the next room. Obviously I had pushed myself to a level I wasn’t ready for yet.

Sure enough, when I entered the room I noticed another one of those potions that tasted terrible. This time I didn’t complain though, since I was willing to do anything to rid myself of this horrid headache. I was too tired to even levitate the bottle, so I simply bit the cork off and began to drink it. As soon as I did, the headache began to fade and I once more felt full mentally healed.

“Feeling better? Good. Because you don’t want to be hearing the blast of guns with a headache. Tried that once… Learned my lesson about getting into a gunfight with a hangover! Anyways, you’ll see an array of weapons on the wall ahead of you. Pick one and enter the training course. Oh, and don’t get any bright ideas. All the weapons are filled with dummy rounds that are only used for knocking the targets over.” I felt slightly disappointed that I didn’t have live ammunition. I was starting to get a bit tired of being here, but I suppose that I shouldn’t escape just yet.

I stepped forward and began to survey the weapons that hung on the wall. I feel I had seen them before, but couldn’t recall them from my shattered memories.

“To your right is a simply handgun that you could levitate and use with your magic. Far to the right we have a battle harness armed with a combat shotgun. Everything in between ranges from handguns to a normal shotgun. Oh, and you don’t need to use the battle harness if you don’t need it. It just depends on your preference and magical ability to be able aim and pull the trigger.” I stepped closer to the guns on the wall and began to choose one. After a moment of thinking, I decided to use a strange looking weapon one from the far left. Instead of a clip or cylinder like the others, this one seemed to load the bullets from a device attached to the bottom of the barrel.

“Ahh… That’s definitely an interesting choice. You see, that’s a prototype that we put together. Instead of using a clip or cylinder, this simply uses a permanently attached auto loader on the bottom of the barrel. It loads the ammo from the back end directly into the barrel, which we purposely did to reduce jamming. Normally it uses ammo you’ll find in the most common of small guns. But we have fitted it to use some revolver ammo, although it’s highly un-recommended. Of course right now it’s only fitted with dummy rounds.” I levitated the weapon close to me to examine it.

Like most of the rest of the weapons, it had a way for an earth pony to use it by shooting with their mouth. But besides that, it appeared to be highly customized in the way that aiming with it one’s mouth would be incredibly easy. It also seemed to be in a better condition than the other weapons, almost as if it was brand new. Other than that though, it seemed to be just a normal weapon with customizations.

“Well what are you waiting for? Move onto the target course.” I levitated the gun in front of me and began to aim down the sights. Once I had the hang of levitating it without even having to concentrate that too hard, I advanced into the concourse ahead of me.

Upon entering I immediately noticed that I was in a maze like room. The walls all seemed to be destroyed and composed of old materials unlike those in the facility I was currently in. Cautiously I began to advance; all the while expecting something to pop out at me. Surely enough, a cardboard cutout of a unicorn levitating a gun aimed at me popped out of a window above me. My reaction time must have been good before I lost my memory, because within just a couple seconds the cutout had a small hole in its forehead. Immediately a flash of another image from my memory appeared in my head. This one was actually horrifying. Instead of being a image like memory, it was a full scene from my memory.

I was standing in a small field that was covered in a layer of snow. This snow however was not white. All around me was littered with dead ponies; their blood making the once white snow a dark red. All I knew was that I was not the one that did it, but a lone survivor of the massacre. The only thing was I wasn’t standing as tall as now, so it must have been a memory from my fillyhood. The last thing that I recalled from the memory was of me picking up a gun with my magic and heading the direction of hoof tracks.

“Subject 42? Are you alright?” I shook my head as the voice pushed me out of the memory. “Are you having any headaches? Loss of focus?” I looked towards the glass observation room above me and shook my head.

“No, I’m fine. Just had a slight headache from using magic.”

“Hmm… Perhaps we need to adjust some ingredients in the potions. Anyways, continue onward. You still have one last room after this, and then you’ll be allowed a physical exam and rest.” With a sigh, I moved further into the training room. The whole time I walked, I kept an eye on the windows and corners as I neared them. If what the pony had said was true, then I was going to need as much practice defending myself when I escaped that I could get. Hell, I may need practice for my escape. Something told me they weren’t just going to let me walk out.

Another pony popped out, but this one didn’t look like any pony I had ever seen before. Instead of standing on the ground, it was flying in the air. And it had wings! Even though I had little memory of my life, I knew for sure I had never seen a pony like that. Oh well, I guess it didn’t matter. Like the unicorn before, I shot this one. But instead of hitting it in the head, I missed and hit it in its ribs. At least it didn’t seem to matter where I hit them, because it still retracted back to the place it popped out of.

I continued onward until a group of ponies popped out. In total there were three unicorns and two earth ponies. As I shot them one after the other, I felt happy they weren’t returning the favor. I’m pretty sure if they were, I’d have more holes in me than I had when the wires ripped out of my body. That was definitely a pain I wouldn’t want to go through again.

It took me about three minutes to clear through the rest of the obstacle course/target range. Once at the end I began to open the door, before I was interrupted by the intercom.

“Good… Your aiming and reaction times are not bad, but could use improvement. Now… Now that you’ve shown us that you can use your abilities against stationary objects, it’s time for you to show us you can last in live combat! You’ll find live ammunition for your weapon next to the door. Take it as well as the armor next to it and enter the next room.” My heart dropped. Was I really expected to fight in a actual combat situation? No… This had to be a test to see if I was afraid of anything.

I walked forward to the table and collected the ammo on the table. After that, I levitated the armor onto my body and began to strap it on. The armor consisted of a leather base, with plates of metal on key vital parts. Other than that, it at least covered my body.

“Oh, almost forgot. There’s a saddlebag in the dresser to your right. Put it on and use that to store your items. You’ll be able to carry most of your weapons in holsters on your body, but you need something for ammo and other items.” I opened the dresser with my magic and pulled out the saddlebags. There were two of them; one for each side of my body. Even better, they were armored, so the contents wouldn’t get damaged in combat.

“Now, you probably want to know who you’re going to have to fight. By now you probably know that you’re not the first subject, and probably won’t be the last. You’re here because the previous subject failed one of the tests. Think about that for a moment… You wouldn’t be here if not for Subject 41 failing, now would you? Subject 41 knows too much to be able to live, and we have to test your combat skills… If you survive, then you’ll be released to do jobs for us in the Frozen Wasteland. If he wins, then he’ll be allowed to try the tests again. Either way, we’ll eventually end up with a unicorn capable of doing jobs for us. Now, waste no more time. Kill subject 41.” Did… Did I just hear that right? I don’t know if I could kill somepony! Especially not a pony that was in the same situation as me!

“I’m not killing anypony.”

“You don’t have a choice Subject 42. You either go in there and kill subject 41, or die.”

“You can’t make me.”

“Oh can’t we?” I looked up at the glass observation room as the glass rose into the ceiling. Behind the glass was about thirty earth ponies; 20 of them with battle harnesses equipped with some sort of rifles. I looked with anger in my eyes as the pony that had been talking to me the whole time stepped in front of all the armed ponies.

“We own you subject 42. Do as we say, or you’re as disposable as the rest of the failed subjects.” I stared without fear at the ponies aiming guns at me. Truth is, I was more scared than ever as far as I could remember. But I had to make a stand if possible.

“You wouldn’t shoot me. I’ve shown too much promise already, haven’t I?” I waited with bated breath to see if my bluff would be accepted. Fortunately for me, the leader lifted his hoof in the air so as to stay their weapons.

“Fine. Obviously you have a little bit of self doubt. You’ll still need to do this, but we’ll go ahead and do the final physical exam before. Give you time to think over the decision you’re making. Wait there while a guard comes and gets you.” I simply stared at the ponies above me as I waited for the guard to come escort me away from this place. After I was sure I wasn’t being looked at, I slipped the gun into my saddlebag as well as the glass shard and hoped they wouldn’t search me. A moment later, a pony wearing a battle harness neared me.

“Follow me. And don’t get any bright ideas.” I did as told and began to follow him as he walked back through to the main hall. Once in the main hall he led me to a door at the end and down a smaller hallway.

“The doctor is inside. Don’t keep him waiting.” I pulled the door open with my magic and proceeded to enter it. Inside was the doctor pony that had let me out of my containment chamber and had been talking to me over the intercom.

“So you got out of eliminating Subject 41 for now… No matter, you’ll have to do it eventually or be eliminated. Now, remove your clothing and get on the examination table.” Reluctantly, I took off my armor and got onto the table.

“How long do I have to stay here?” He began to take readings of my vitals via very complicated looking machinery that was in questionable condition.

“Long enough for us to ensure you won’t just run when we release you. But of course, we also have a little insurance should we decide you are a capable subject.” I winced as he placed a freezing cold object on my back. It felt like a saddle, but it was colder than an ice crystal. “Oh… Might want to brace yourself… This might hurt.” I screamed out as a large metal needle pierced into my spine and began to extract marrow. The pain was so bad that I nearly blacked out, but managed to hold out despite my body wanting to give in.

“You… Could have warned me… You little-“

“Shut up and take this.” He injected me with a small needle that immediately began to numb my pain. “That was filled with one of the most powerful numbing potions known to ponies and zebra alike. You’ll soon be unable to feel anything.”

“Uhuh…” Honestly… I felt good. Better than I had felt all day in fact! It was as if I was unable to feel pain whatsoever! It did affect my thoughts for a moment there however.

“Now, we have one last test to run. And as always, I wish I didn’t have to do this part, so I’m just going to break protocol and not examine… Down there.” He shuddered and turned away and began to mumble to himself. “Get the one male pony that’s interested in stallions to do this crap…” He turned back to me holding a clipboard in his mouth. He gestured for me to take it. Unfortunately, the potion seemed to have numbed my ability to focus. After a minute of trying, I did manage to get it though.

“Usually I’d fill that out upon examining that reproduction death trap you have. No way are they making me examine another one! Just fill it out, and I’ll turn it in. Oh, and answer truthfully would you?” I slowly nodded and began to go over the paper that went into great detail about my reproduction ability. None of it was particularly easy to lie on, mostly involving my ability to reproduce. As far as I knew, I was quite capable of it… Although I couldn’t quite remember if I ever had interest in such an action. Oh well.

“I’m done… Now take this before I drop it. I feel so good!”

“Seems like I gave you a larger dose than anticipated.” He began to go over the clipboard. “Ugh… Finally that part is done! Now, go ahead and get some rest. Once that potion wears off, you’ll be escorted to the chamber in which Subject 41 is waiting.” He picked up the clipboards he had been using to do the medical exam in his mouth and exited through an automatic door on the right of the room.

Perhaps I should be worried about having to kill Subject 41… But my judgment seemed to have been clouded, and I couldn’t care less about anything. All I wanted to do was sleep since my body seems to have already fallen asleep.

So I did just that.

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“Wake up! Useless subject… WAKE THE HELL UP!” I jumped up and nearly hit my head on the female pony standing above me.

“I’m awake, I’m awake!”

“Good… I’m afraid the pony that has been handling you is not here at the moment, but he’ll be here soon. I was told to wake you and tell you to get into your armor. Subject 41 is awaiting termination.” The last couple hours came back to me almost immediately.

“How long have I been out?”

“Only an hour. You’d think spending a couple days sleeping in a tube would get you well rested… Apparently not. Now, get your armor on before I make you wish you had it on.” I had no idea what that meant, but I wasn’t about to find out.

I quickly got up and began to place the armor on once more. After I was sure it was on correctly and sure it would protect my body, I began to put the saddlebags on. I quickly checked to see if my weapons were still in the bags, and sure enough they were.

“Good, you’re dressed. I’m sure the doctor will be here in just a moment.” She looked towards to door and began to wait impatiently. I eventually found myself staring at her armor, kinda wishing I had it instead of this ramshackle excuse for armor. Hers was made completely of some sort of metal material which looked capable of stopping some of the most powerful weapons. My gaze on her armor was broken when I noticed she was staring at me.

“Oh, sorry… I…”

“I’m not interested in mares just so you know.”

“What! No, I was just-“

“Save your breath. I saw you undressing me with your eyes.”

“I swear I wasn’t!”

“Yeah sure… Don’t be so ashamed. I think Blossom is interested in mares, but she’ll take some impressing to get into her chambers.” I felt my face blushing as the heat of embarrassment took my head over.

“But… But…” I stumbled for words to explain that I didn’t want her. After a moment I just sighed and gave up. Last time I ever examined another mare’s armor, that’s for sure.

“I trust you didn’t rile the subject up?” I quickly attempted to hide my red face as the doctor walked in.

“No sir. If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you to the subject.”

“No, I want you to escort her to the battle chamber. I have to go the viewing room and begin to take combat readings.”

“Fine… Come on, and refrain from looking at my flank as we walk.” I immediately began to feel the heat behind my ears as I blushed once more. Was she doing that on purpose?

“Oh, interested in mares? You’re probably happy we skipped that part of the examination earlier too.” I fell to the ground and covered my face in hopes that I would disappear.

“I’M NOT INTERESTED IN MARES!” Well… That wasn’t entirely truth. Truth is, I wasn’t interested in anything... Couldn’t remember what I was interested in. So why make a choice until I was absolutely sure? Plus I don’t really want my captors knowing more about me than they already know.

“Well no matter you’re sexual preference, it won’t do you any good in combat. Just get going.” I lifted myself off the ground and stood beside the female pony.

“Follow me.” I began to follow her, although I did my best to avert my gaze from her when possible. No way was I going to give her the satisfaction of embarrassing me once more.

“I hope you have some good combat abilities. This subject is one bloodthirsty colt. He would have been the Unicorn we need, had he known a single spell. I guess we did something, because he couldn’t even remember how to levitate a pencil. Too bad, he’s an excellent combatant.”

“Do I really have to… Kill him? Can’t I just knock him out or something? What about loading our guns with tranquilizers or-“

“Can it. You’re going to either kill him, or die trying.” We stopped outside of a door. “Here we are. Oh, and I was told to give you this.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a potion. “Use it wisely.”

“Healing potion?”

“Yep. Now get in there before I save Subject 41 the chance to fight you.”

“All right, no need to get all pissy.” I opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately the intercom crackled as the voice of the pony I knew and loathed burst out over the static.

“You’ll find weapons to use on a table in the center of the room. I’m expecting both of you to fight to your best abilities. Both of you have something to gain from winning. Subject 42, if you win you get to go free. If you win Subject 41, you’ll be allowed a chance to redeem yourself. Go.” Even though I didn’t want to, I began to dash for the center of the room. I didn’t want to kill anypony, but the fear of killing was easily overshadowed by a bigger fear of death.

I probably could have used my gun that was hidden in my saddlebag, but I still wanted to keep me having that on the down low. Luckily I managed to reach the table before Subject 41, but not by much. By the time I had picked up and loaded a handgun he had grabbed another one of the guns and hid behind cover.

“Subject 42?” I ducked behind a wall and prepared myself to shoot if need be. I couldn’t help but notice that 41 was using his mouth instead of levitating the gun like normal.

“I don’t normally talk to ponies that I’m in battle with!”

“I have a proposition that will benefit us both.” I looked up to the observation room to see the doctor looking towards me with impatience on his face.

“I’ll hear you out, but make it look like we are actually fighting.” Immediately as I said that a bullet brushed by me; nearly missing me by mere inches. I decided to return the favor, and also missed by a couple inches.

“I’ve been studying this place for the two weeks I’ve been here and I believe that I’ve found an exit we can use. But I need help from another pony.” I reached out and shot again. With a crackle of static the intercom burst to life once more.

“Use your magic Subject 42. You have an advantage over Subject 41!” Not wanting to draw attention I began to levitate a box nearby Subject 41 and threw it at him. Unfortunately I accidentally hit him harder than anticipated.

“Sorry! I’m still getting the hang of controlling this magic.” A shot broke through the wall I was hiding by; grazing my left hoof and drawing a small trickle of blood.

“It’s fine, sorry if that hit you. Now, are you in or not?”

“Since one of us has to die if I say no, the answer is yes. Can they hear us?”

“No, they soundproofed that damned booth up there so they won’t hurt their precious ears by our gunfire.” We both dived out from out cover and shot at each other. Luckily both of us were aiming at the cover we just jumped from, so neither of us was hit.

“Good. So, how we gonna get out of here?”

“They hand you a potion?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Sorry about this… Just lie down and act dead!” I didn’t realize what he meant until the sound of the gun had went off. Immediately after that I felt a searing pain in my stomach as I collapsed into a pool of my own blood. He had managed to hit a part of my armor that was weak, which meant he obviously had some knowledge of it.

I began to panic as I felt my vision fading. Before it could, I levitated the potion out of my bag and began to drink it discreetly. Afterwards I continued to lie in my blood pretending to be dead.

“Hmm… Good job Subject 41. I must say, I’m actually pretty disappointed. But a deal’s a deal, and you’ll be given another chance to take the magical test. Remain there until a guard comes and gets you.” I laid in wait for the noise of a door opening. Once I heard one I jumped up as Subject 41 fired a shot clear through the guards' head.

“NO! Guards, get down there and eliminate the subjects now!”

“42, it’s time to go!”

“Sure, just allow me to run after getting SHOT IN THE GUT!”

“I said I was sorry!” I began to limp quickly after 41. Even though the potion had healed my wound to a small puncture, the pain was still fresh on my mind. I was most definitely never going to get shot again if I could help it.

We dashed through the door into a hallway I had not been to before. He led me down a hallway until we reached large double doors. Unfortunately they seemed to be automatic. Even worse, they were locked.

“Son of a slut raping donkey!” 41 began to look around frantically. “There! See that vent? You’re small enough to fit through! Go through and unlock to door from the other side.” He laid on the ground and gestured for me to stand on his back. Even though I was still in pain, I did as indicated and stood on his back. Once I was on, he stood up tall enough for me to open the vent and crawl inside.

Time was of the essence. If I took a wrong turn in the vents then 41 would be killed. No way was I going to allow that to happen on my watch. Fortunately the vault seemed to be straight forwards, and within seconds I was dropping down to the ground on the other side of the door. I quickly opened the door, allowing 41 to enter.

“Thanks. We’re nearly out. Just have to make one last mad dash to the exit.”

“Lead the way.” We began to run for a large metal door at the end of the hall. Arrows down the hallways pointed towards it marked ‘Exit’, so obviously we would be running that way. But before we reached it, I came to a skidding halt as I saw something on a large monitor to my right.

It showed me on it.

“42? Come on, we gotta go!”

“Hold on. This might be my only chance to find out who I am.” I began to observe the screen frantically. The only thing that was shown on it was some shots of me from each angle. All of them were of my current state, and there was no info on my name or past. I sighed and began to run after 41 before I saw one last thing.

“Can you please hurry? I don’t want to get shot!”

“Yeah, one more second.” I quickly made note of the details on my capture. Apparently I was making a delivery to the Shattered Gleam for some unknown reason. Obviously that was my first destination. Well right after I got the hell out this place.

“You done? Oh, we got company!” We looked back down the hall to see about fifty earth ponies all armed with battle harnesses. Oh, and they didn’t look like they were about to give us a farewell party.

“Think they want to give us a going away present?”

“The big guns make me doubt it!” We made a mad dash towards the exit. Fortunately for us, the earth ponies' battle harnesses seemed to slow them down quite a bit. Didn’t stop them from shooting at us unfortunately.

“Do we have a plan for when we get out of here?!”

“Um… Does running count?” I opened the door with my magic ahead of us in preparation of making it through.

“Sure, as long as these idiots keep going at that speed!”

“Subject 42! 41!” We both ran through the doorway with the voice of the doctor echoing behind us.

“There is nowhere to hide! Even the blizzards won’t cover you from our watchful eyes!” I slammed the door shut behind us and placed some crates against it. They would eventually get through, but it would give us enough time to get away.

“Good one 42. We should have a bit of time to get away.” We both turned around to be greeted with a freezing breeze of air coming from some open area in the tunnel before us.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“I think I glimpsed the time on a terminal. It’s around the break of dawn. The sun’s probably just now rising. It’s probably freezing out there, so we need to find shelter soon.” I shivered a little as a gust of wind pierced my coat and chilled me right to my bones.

“We better find some fast…” We both jumped back as a crate fell from the top onto where we had just been standing.

“Time to go?”

“Yep.” We turned around and began to sprint full speed into the wind. After a brief moment of running we had began to spot the unmistakable glow of sunlight coming from the exit of the cave. Unfortunately for us, the opening also meant the cold was now hitting us full blast.

“This armor was not made with warmth in mind!”

“Just keep moving. It’ll keep you warm.” I did as instructed and began to sprint once more to the mouth of the cave. Upon exiting I saw an awe inspiring sight.

We were standing on a hill that overlooked a vast majority of the land. The snow on the ground looked brand new and trackless; the sun rose brilliantly over the clear skies, which made the snow glow a blinding white. All I could do was stand there with my mouth agape. The cold wasn’t even affecting me anymore.

“Welcome to the Frozen Wasteland.”

I continued to survey the wasteland before me, until my eyes met a landmark in the otherwise white wasteland. It stood to the east, right under the rising sun. The sheer size of it from where we were indicated it was at least a couple hours worth of walking. Considering it was the only landmark I could see within my viewing radius, I guessed it was the Shattered Gleam.

“There. That’s our destination… The Shattered Gleam.”

“You mean your destination. All I needed was to escape. If it’s all the same to you, I don’t want to be anywhere near these crazy earth ponies… So I’m going to the Equestrian Wasteland.” He pointed south of us to a mountain range that was barely noticeable in the distance. From what I could tell it was at least three days worth of walking. “It lies right over that mountain range. As far as I know, these ponies have no connections out there.”

“So this is goodbye?”

“Sorry 42, but you’re on your own.”

“Good luck then.”

“Same to you. Oh, if you do… When you make it to Shattered Gleam you might want to check out the residential district first. I remember I had a house there… House 1193 if I remember correctly. For helping me you can have anything in there that you want.”

“Thanks.”

“Equestria, here I come…” I watched as he walked away towards the mountain range in the distance. Honestly I wished he would stay and help me make it to the Shattered Gleam, but I couldn’t stop him. Maybe our paths would cross again, but I had serious doubt we would.

I turned back east and began to walk towards the large city in the distance. I didn’t know what was waiting for me there, but I knew that it was the best chance for me to find out about my past; about who I was; about why I was captured.

I probably should have been scared that I was now alone in a post apocalyptic world filled with Celestia knows what. But… All I felt was happy. I was happy to be free from that underground lab; happy to be outside in the chilling air…

Happy to be alive and free.

But that didn’t mean I was safe… No, I was nowhere near safe… The wasteland around me had creatures that I could remember from deep inside my brain. They were dangerous and I knew it.

But none of that mattered. I had a destination and I was going to make it there no matter what. So hooftsep after hooftsep I made my way through the snow towards the Shattered Gleam. And even though it was cold which made me wish I was next to a fire, I continued to force my way through the ever deepening snow.

Eventually I ended up in a snow blanket that was actually tall as my hooves. So unfortunately I had to march through a field of snow that was not exactly a walk through the park to get through. But even though I was facing the hardships of the Frozen Wasteland, I couldn’t help but smile.

So there I was, a Subject of a failed experiment that had no memory of her past life, her name, or even her own cutie mark… Yet I was smiling as I forced my way through a snow field that was unpleasant and cold to a destination that might not even serve me any answers.

And the only reason I was smiling was because I was beginning to remember why I had been going to the Shattered Gleam… I was going there because I had an important message for the leaders of the Shattered Gleam. And in that message was a conspiracy to overthrow the Shattered Gleam.

And of course, the message also meant a war that I would declare… A war on the Shattered ones.

A war that would start soon.

A war… That I would be leading against those that had killed my family all those years ago.

Footnote: Level Up!

Perk Taken: Magical Studies – You are an apprentice in magic. Because of this, you take studies in magic seriously. You’ll advance in magic must faster than others, and are unable to resist the chance to learn new magic. Oh, and +5 to magic!

Quest Perk Added: Amnesia – You can’t remember your past, save for bits and pieces. This however can be fixed by finding fragments of your memory by visiting places you’ve been to and talking to people who held significance in your life.

Author's Note

I would like to thank Kkat for creating the epic tale that is Fallout: Equestria, which actually inspired me to start writing not only this, but just writing in general. I would also like to thank my Pre-readers and editors. And most of all, thank you for reading this story! It means more than you know, and I look forward to getting feedback from you all!

When I started this story, I had not wanted to participate in an F: Eq side story. But as I know too well, I can’t resist a chance to join in on something great. But making a side-story of a story that already has too many side-stories to count is not an easy thing. That’s why I set the story in the arctic north of Equestria, so that I may create a world that exists within the Fallout: Equestria universe, but doesn’t actually interfere with it. Oh, and no; this story does not and most likely will not have any references to the Crystal Empire, even though the locations are similar.

I already have a great story planned that has a larger focus on magic (I have a whole magic skill tree planned) as well as a greater spin on the normal Fallout: Equestria world by adding snow that will play a large part in the story. Rest assured that I have thought of every possible solution to keep from any adding anything that will cause an error in the canon. If you do see anything that collides with the canon, please let me know and I will correct it ASAP. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!