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Chapter 1 – The Wall of Memory

“Once upon a time, in the lands of Equestria…”

Snow.

Snow everywhere as far as the eye can see. A snowfall had started about ten minutes ago. And honestly… I was cold enough to wish I was back in that facility. Whatever they were going to do had to better than freezing to death.

No matter, I had been walking for about two hours and probably needed to find shelter to warm up before I went and got myself frostbite. Unfortunately for me there didn’t seem to be anything within sight. Well… As far as I could tell. The snowfall had reduced my vision to a less than comfortable viewing distance. Which in turn made me also lose sight of the Shattered Gleam.

I guess my only option was to march on through. But did my body have the strength to do so? I was already shivering enough to make my teeth chatter almost enough to break them. And I was pretty sure losing feeling in my hooves was not normal. But I couldn’t give up… Not while the Shattered Ones still lived.

I’m not exactly sure what had caused my memory to fill the void as to why I was delivering the message… But I believe it had something to do with seeing the Shattered Gleam. Still… Even though I remember why I was heading to the Shattered Gleam, I was still unsure of my life before that. So far all I knew was that the Shattered Ones had killed my entire family in search of me when I was a filly. As for why they had, I still have no idea. After that, my memory skips to when I was delivering the message.

There was also one slighter problem… I had no idea who the Shattered Ones were… All I knew was that they were an organization that operated in the Frozen Wasteland. Besides that, I had no details on what they were; who was in it; their goals; and most importantly… Why I was a target to them. Did it have something to do with my extraordinary knowledge of magic?

Speaking of which… How was I able to remember my magic when I was unable to remember anything else? As far as I knew, I wasn’t any more special than the other unicorns of the Frozen Wastes. Yet… I still remembered most of the spells I had learned since I was a filly.

Also… I couldn’t help but wonder who I was; what personality I had; what kind of person I was. Could I ever regain those memories? A large part of me doubted it, but yet again, the rest of me hoped that I could. It’s not exactly fun not being able to remember anything about yourself… Not even your own name.

My mind was forced away from my thoughts as a loud bang resonated out near me. Someone had shot a gun, and more than likely it had been aimed at me. Quickly as one that was near frozen could, I levitate the gun I stole from the facility from its holster and aimed it in the direction the gunshot had come from.

I was now standing face to face with an earth pony that too was aiming a gun at me. Fortunately when he saw me he put the gun down.

“Oh, you’re just a unicorn.”

“Were you expecting something else?”

“Oh no, just thought you might be one of those psychos that have been capturing ponies. Near as I can tell they only consist of Earth ponies.”

“You’re looking for them? I just managed to get away from them.”

“WHAT?! Quick, tell me where they are hiding at!”

“Sure, but what’s it to you anyways?”

“I’m with the Warmth-makers.”

“The what?”

“You been living in a stable or something? The Warmth-makers. We’re the peacekeepers of this frozen hellhole. Not sure where the name came from, but once ponies started calling us that we didn’t stop them. Now, if you don’t mind…”

“Of course, the place was west of here. I don’t remember exactly where, but it was on a hill with a cave in the side.”

“Damn… Ain’t much to go off of, but at least it means we can concentrate our search to that area.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be much more help.”

“It’s fine unicorn. You’ve helped more than anyone else. Guess those bastards work under the cover of blizzards, because nopony has ever seen them taking anypony.”

“Glad to help.”

“You should probably get indoors… There is an abandoned hospital nearby that you can take shelter in. Just head south to the hill. From there you’ll spot it in the fields to the east.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem citizen. If you find yourself in the Shattered Gleam, stop by our office. The leader of our small force will want to hear a report of what happened after you were captured. You can find him in Sector 2.” I nodded and with a shiver began to make my way east to the hill

Luckily it was only about two minutes away, so I reached it quite quickly. Once there I looked south and sure enough it was there. The building itself was about three stories tall and was eroded heavily from the snow and looked as if an explosion had happened nearby that was large enough to wipe out an entire wing. Fortunately someone had boarded the wing up, so wind wouldn’t be blowing through as easily. Still, it was better than standing out here waiting to turn into a living soon to be dead Popsicle.

With the last of my energy I made a dash to the building. Once inside I shut the door and began to survey over the room before me. Surely enough it did seem to be a hospital, and I seemed to be in the waiting room. The benches lining the walls were knocked over as if the ponies that had been on them had stood tried to bring them with them when they left them. Magazines were scattered all over the floor; none of which having any interesting info. Other than that the hospital was seemingly normal albeit very eerie.

“Hello?” My voice echoed into the hallway. “Anypony home?” Once again there was complete silence. I was completely alone in this building, which actually made me quite terrified.

At least the building was… Warmer than outside. It was still colder than I hoped though. Wanting to be warm I began to search the building for an old furnace or something of the like. I’m pretty sure these lands were as frozen as they are now before the war, so a furnace couldn’t be too big a fantasy.

I began to cautiously make my way down the dark hall. As my hooves hit the ground dust began to come off the ground and settle back down; the building creaking as it got used to a moving figured inside of it. It was a wonder that the place didn’t just collapse on my head. My head snapped to the right as I heard the faint sound of somepony speaking. As I cautiously neared I began to realize with relief that it was just a radio that was picking up a signal from somewhere. Once I was close enough I began to hear the beautiful voice of a mare accompanied by amazing an orchestra.

{/]---------[{}]--------[/}

“That’s why I know you’ll forgive me…

The reason I know you’ll always be there for me granted all my mistakes; all my lies.

Because those lies…

They were meant to protect you.”

Welcome back to The Frozen Eye! That was “My lies” by Octavia. Hope you enjoyed it, because I sure did.

Now it’s time for the news! We all know that the Shattered Hooves run the Shattered Gleam right? Well we may all be wrong… Rumors are going around that the Shattered Hooves have nothing to do with the well-being of our grand city, and instead just stand to serve as a form of government for us. But do we have the strength to say no to them? Only time will tell…

Also there have been reports of more Unicorn disappearances around the wastes. Nopony knows who or what is causing the disappearances, but the Warmth-bringers have assured us they are searching non-stop for the culprits. If you ask me, they’re probably just wondering into a Hellhound lair or something. But I’ve been proven wrong before!

Oh and before I forget… Radiation levels have been rising. Nopony knows why, but they suspect it has something to do with the snow growing heavier and happening more often. Some even suspect that it has something to do with that cloud cover that never goes away near the border of the Equestria Wasteland. Either way, you should probably bring some extra rad-away if you decide to make a trip into the Frozen Wastes.

And finally it’s time for the public service announcement: Many Stares – or Deathtrices if you prefer – have been spotted just west of Shattered Gleam. If you value your life, then you’ll stay in the city borders until they have been dealt with. The issue is suspected to be dealt with within a day or two.

Hmm… What’s this? I just got news that someone has uncovered a new record and brought it to us! Stallions, colts and mares… I present to you a never before heard song!

This is “Within the darkness of night” by a pony named Vinyl Scratch!

“The darkness takes me over.

The darkness closes us together.

We reach for a light, but find nothing.

We grasp for hope but receive nothing.

The darkness holds control of us.

But still we yearn. We reach for light to bring us hope!”

{/]---------[{}]--------[/}

I actually felt saddened when the signal became lost in the ever-growing blizzard outside. Somehow the music helped to calm me down and make me forget about the cold I was in. And the mare that manned the radio actually had a comforting voice… Oh well, I still had to find a furnace. Perhaps I could bring the radio next to it once I found one and try and regain the signal.

I clicked the radio off so the static would go away. Afterwards I began to search carefully through the hallways until I came to a door marked ‘basement’. Obviously that was the obvious choice, but then again… Oh what the hell, it was worth a look. I opened the doors and unfortunately missed the first step; sending me down the flight of stairs.

After landing quite painfully on my face I slowly stood up and shook the pain off my head. At first it looked like nothing was down there, but then I spotted a large metal object on the far wall. Once I spotted it my eyes lit up and –despite the pain I was in- I rushed over to it and hugged it gratefully.

And just like that I felt like an idiot. Here I was in an abandoned hospital hugging a furnace that was probably older than the building itself. But I was just so happy to be near something that gave warmth! A feeling of dread washed over me as I realized that the furnace had no fuel in order to work.

So what was I to do now? The answer to my question remained unanswered for about five minutes until I discovered some small barely legible writing on the side of the furnace. According to the furnace I would be able to substitute a regular fire with a magical fire in case of emergency. And luckily for me, I just so happened to know how to ignite a magical fire!

I placed my horn into the furnace and began to light the fire. Once I was sure the fire was lit and able to stay lit I pulled my horn away and looked at the glowing green and blue fire. The warmth of a magical fire is usually only about half as good as a normal fire, but it should be enough to warm the building up to a reasonable temperature.

Now that I was slowly beginning warm up, I couldn’t help but feel slightly tired. Within a few moments I found that I had lain on the ground at some point. Honestly I didn’t want to get up, so I just simply lied in front of the furnace and let the sandpony take me into the world of dreams.

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“Good morning sweet flank.” My eyes snapped open to see a colt standing in the corner looking over me. He had a very boring brown coat with an orange mane and yellow eyes.

“Excuse me?” I stood up and prepared to pull my gun out if he tried anything. “Who are you?”

“Calm yourself! I mean you no harm. I just wondered down here a couple moments ago and found you sleeping down here. Thought I’d stick around and wait for you to wake up.” Did… Did he just imply something on that last sentence? I think he did! The main hint was his eyebrow rising as he said it.

“Yeah, not interested in whatever you’re offering.”

“Oh, too bad… You sure you don’t want to at least think about it?”

“Yes… I’m sure. Now if you don’t mind I’m trying to sleep here!”

“Sheesh… Sorry I even bothered you! I’m just going to go upstairs and wait out the blizzard.”

“You do that… Oh and don’t think of trying to come down here while I’m sleeping.”

“Don’t worry, I can take a hint.” He walked back up the stairs and closed the door behind him. And just lie that I was awake. Didn’t quite like the idea of having a strange pony above me that’s interested in aiding me in finding my sexual preference. Just the thought of it made me shudder.

Even through the awkwardness I managed to stand up and re-light the furnace. That magical fire was supposed to last about… Six hours, so I’ve been asleep for at least that long. At least the basement was still warm. After relighting the furnace I lay on the ground once more and simply stared at the door at the top of the stairs.

Just… Something about him didn’t sit right with me. If he really wanted to he could have done something while I was sleeping. But yet he didn’t and that smelled pretty fishy to me. I guess I should just be happy that I avoided that unpleasantness, but no… I had to get curious!

Within seconds I found myself at the top of the stairs as I questioned myself as to why I was about to do this. Unfortunately when I set my mind on something I usually got it done.

“Err… Whoever you are… Hello?” I stepped out into the slightly warm hallway.

“Hello darling, change your mind?” A plan snapped itself into my mind. I needed to make sure he had no weapons before I would be able to find out anything.

“Uhm… Sure.”

“Really?! Oh damn, this is my lucky day!”

“Yeah…”

“Go ahead and go get ready in the basement. I’ll be there in just a moment!” Yep, that was definitely suspicious… That or I was just being a bit paranoid.

“Sure.” I walked back down the stairs and back to where I had been lying. Reluctantly I took my armor off and faced towards the exit to the basement. But little did he know I had my gun behind my back loaded and ready to use.

“Okay! Let’s get this show on th- WHOA! Already ready and here I am with my armor still on… Let me just head back up and undress real qui-“

“No, you can do that here.” I tried to make my voice as seductive as possible. And honestly, it sickened me to be using my body to get answers.

“I’m a little… Err… Self-conscious. I’m going to go upstairs and undress.”

“No, don’t worry about it! I won’t stare, I promise.”

“I really got to-“

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little mare?” I think that set him off.

“Now that ain’t fair! Fine, you win. But after that I have to get going immediately I have to… Be somewhere.”

“Oh I’ll make sure you won’t be going anywhere soon. Now get those clothes off.” I quickly averted my gaze as he began to bite the straps on his clothing. After a moment I heard the unmistakable sound of clothing hitting the floor followed by hoofsteps on the floor coming in my direction. I reluctantly looked back over to him to see he was standing above me wearing nothing. With a quick glimpse I noticed that his weapons were in the clothes pile as well.

“Alright, so what’s your preferred-“I jumped up and levitated the gun at him.

“Okay, who are you?”

“Oh you little cunt!” I added a tiny bit of pressure to the trigger.

“Now name calling isn’t quite nice. How about you answer my question?”

“You’re not even worthwhile!”

“What?”

“Just give up and I’ll forget this little incident.”

“Yeah… Not gonna happen. Now, one last time; who are you working for? The Shattered Ones?”

“The who? No… I wouldn’t even think about pulling that trigger. The second you do Slavers will storm the building and take you down faster than you can blink.”

“Slavers?” A memory in my mind began to piece together. There was a small band of ponies that enslaved ponies for profit that wandered the Frozen Wastes. From what I could remember they were only small time.

“Yeah, so just give up.”

“Nope. I’m the one with the strategic defenses here. Think about it… I’m down here in the basement in a position that would allow me to pick them off as they entered. Do you really want to be responsible for getting your team killed because you were blinded by your own sexual interest?” I smiled as I saw the anger in his eyes grow. He knew I was right, but still held to his ego.

“You. Little. Fucking. CUNT!”

“You’re just not cut out for this line of work are you? Think back to when I was sleeping… You could have easily got me while I was sleeping, but instead you stood by and waited for me to wake up. Way I see it that was either caused by lust… Or Guilt.” He simply stared at me. Slowly I was beginning to see the anger in his eyes begin to wane and begin to be replaced with a look of sadness.

“You don’t think I know that… There’s no getting out of the Slavers once you join… When I joined they told me they were going to be giving homeless ponies a place to live. They did as they promised… But not in the way I thought they would. They… They would ship slaves off to the highest bidder just to line their own pockets with gold! And when a pony didn’t pass as sellable… They would use them as sex slaves…” Tears began to slide down his cheek. “I’ve seen fillies… Fillies not even old enough to know what sex is get… Get…” I lowered my gun. Somehow I didn’t think I’d need it anymore.

“Dear Celestia… I knew they were bad, but not that bad… Do you want out?”

“Yes… But there’s no way they’ll ever let me just walk out. If I even tried I’d be enslaved faster than I could say pickle berry kumquat.”

“If you’re really serious about leaving; really serious about changing… I’ll help you. They’ll be expecting one unicorn that is unaware of the threat around her… But throw one Earth pony with vengeance on his mind in the equestrian… That’s a recipe for disaster on their side!”

“You’d really help me? After I tried to enslave you after-“

“DON’T… Remind me.”

“What? You asexual or something?” He smiled coyly. “Or… Are you a mare person yourself?”

“What is up with ponies and wanting to know my sexual story?!”

“Hey, you’ll find that out here sex is perhaps the most interesting thing that will happen to you besides the occasional creature. Things out here are much more boring than down south in the Equestrian Wasteland. In matter a fact, I think that a time of peace will soon be overcoming out here. Even the slavers have talked about just moving their base of operations to the Equestrian Wasteland.”

“Just… Don’t mention that anymore okay?”

“Hey, get me out of here and I’ll forget you even took your clothes off.” I felt myself blushing as I quickly levitate my armor back over to myself. With haste I placed it back over myself and ensured it was on correctly.

“Mind if I ask what happened to your cutie mark?”

“My what?”

“Cutie mark...”

“Never heard of it.”

“Never heard of a cutie mark?! The image that appears on your flank at a young age that tells you what your best ability is?” An image of a cutie mark flashed before my eyes. I still wasn’t sure what mine was, but at least I remembered what one was.

“Oh yeah. Sorry, I have some slight amnesia… Anyways, what was wrong with it?”

“It’s kind of… Branded over.”

“WHAT?! With what?”

“42.”

“Oh… Damn. I was hoping that my cutie mark may give me a hint to who I was.” We both looked up as we heard hoofsteps accompanied by muffled speech above us.

“We can see about fixing your amnesia after this… You do know how to handle that gun don’t you?”

“Sure.” We both aimed out guns at the door as we heard somepony speak right on the other side of it. I found myself wondering how annoying it is to hold a gun in your mouth once more as I looked over at my companion.

“Hey! I found something.”

“Well go down there then you idiot! You don’t need us holding your hoof the whole time!” I prepared to shoot as soon as the door opened. Shooting a pony that was being held against his will was on my list of no no’s, but shooting a pony that enslaved others was not. Still… A part of me didn’t want to harm him at all.

The door slowly opened to reveal a brown earth pony standing at the doorway. My aim was on his head as I began to squeeze the trigger. Unfortunately for me I chickened out at the last second and ended up shooting him in the chest. The poor pony didn’t even have time to scream out as he tumbled down the stairs and landed on his neck with a sickening crunch.

There it was. I had just killed somepony… And my stomach was beginning to feel the realization of it as bile began to fill in my throat. By some miracle I managed to hold it in despite wanting to throw up more than I had when I drank that horrible potion back in that facility.

“They’re down there!” I reluctantly aimed my gun up at the door and awaited my next victim. But would I be able to pull the trigger a second time? If I did I would have to make sure to save the next pony the pain of being shot then breaking its neck.

The next pony appeared with a gun in its mouth. Unfortunately for me she knew how to handle it and fired a shot that barely skinned my cheek. I could feel the warm trickle of blood as it slid down my cheek. My shot unfortunately for her was not so inaccurate. The bullet hit her in the head; killing her instantly. Once again the feeling of wanting to throw up hit me like a brick wall, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time.

“Why aren’t you shooting?!”

“obly ot e est-“He dropped the gun from his mouth and began speaking again. “Probably not the best time to tell you this… But… I’m kind of a horrible shot.”

“Well at least draw their fire from me as I take mine!” He nodded and picked the gun back up then resumed aiming at the doorway.

“We’ll never get them if we go one at a time!”

“Fine, we rush them then!” Crap… That didn’t sound good.

“CHARGE!” My eyes opened wide in fear as about six ponies all charged into the room. I sighed as I realized we would never take them all… The odds were just against us. I let the levitation spell drop, which sent my gun clattering to the floor.

“Ut are oo oing??!”

“We can’t take them all on… Drop your weapon.”

“Ut…” He pleaded to me with his eyes. After all the ponies aimed their guns at him he dropped it.

“Humph. Smarter than you look. Guess I couldn’t expect less from a unicorn.” The leader of the small band of slavers looked away from me and at my companion. “And you. We warned you never to try anything against us… We’ll be sure to sell you to that stallion that fancies males at a discount.” He turned back to me. “As for you, I’ve been feeling a little lonely lately.”

“Before you do that… Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Nope. Got everything I need right under this armor!” I smiled which made him raise an eyebrow.

“I think you forgot that I kind of have a horn… A horn that can do this!” I released a blast of magic in their direction that sent them all flying against the wall behind them. Before they could recover I picked up my gun and began to shoot at them. I had taken about four of them out cleanly before the other two got up.

I still didn’t like those odds so I released a spell that I hadn’t had a chance to test yet. The leader didn’t even have time to react as it hit and paralyzed him. He fell to the ground unable to move as I aimed at his still mobile partner.

“I think the odds are fair… Two, on two?” The last standing pony dropped his gun and dashed up the stairs screaming for his life. The leader still lay on the ground with an expression of anger on his face. Of course I could tell he was actually scared from his eyes. The paralysis had just frozen the look of anger on him.

“Don’t worry… I have a conscious so I won’t be killing you while you can’t move.” The use of magic finally hit me and I slumped to the ground drained of my energy. I should probably learn to moderate my use so I don’t strain myself.

I slowly stood up and levitated the gun from the slavers mouth. Luckily levitation didn’t seem to even require me to focus anymore, so I was able to just pick the gun up without any trouble.

“Got em.”

“What about him? We can’t just let him live! He’ll hunt us down.” I looked down at the leader as the spell began to slowly wear off. Maybe I should practice my magic the next chance I got. Couldn’t hurt I suppose.

“I’m not killing a pony that can’t even defend himself. And I’m also not going to give him a gun just so I could sleep at night after killing him.” The leader began to move his hooves as he tried to stand up again.

“Quick! Hit him with another of those spells!”

“No, that will just serve to prolong out situation we’re in.” I began to think what we should do with him. Maybe we could just lock the door to the basement and leave? No, that would just be a slower and more miserable death. And I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to convince him to just leave and never mention us again.

“For fuck sake! Just quit squabbling and either kill me or let me go! Just please, shut the fuck up!”

“You know what? I’d rather have slavers mad at us then us be murderers.” I walked stepped back and allowed the leader some room to leave. “You’re free to go and do whatever you want. But rest assured.” I put my hoof in front of him. “If I see you again… You won’t be so lucky as to have mercy from me.” I lowered my hoof and allowed him to exit.

He obviously expected trickery so he was cautious upon his exit. The whole time he ascended the stairs he was looking down at us like we were about to maim him. After he exited the basement my new companion looked to me and began questioning me. Can’t say I didn’t see that coming.

“Why’d you let him go?! Oh sweet Celestia… I’m dead! I’m… I’m just dead! I knew I should have killed him! I knew it!”

“Would you calm down? We’re going to be fine. He’ll probably either freeze to death or get killed by one of the creatures out there anyways.”

“Yeah, you’re right… You have to be right.” He took a deep breath then sighed. “Thanks for helping me.”

“No problem. I’m… I’m… Just call me 42.”

“What type of name is that? Oh, it has something to do with your amnesia and that branding on your cutie mark doesn’t it?” I nodded slowly. “Since you helped me get out of that situation I’ll help you find out who you are. I’m Daring Dash by the way.”

“Daring Dash?!” I couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “What type of name is that?”

“Yeah yeah… My dad gave me that name after some character from a book… I think the character’s name was Daring Doo. He was obsessed with that series. He actually had a whole collection of books that were actually eligible. The entire series. I guess he liked them because it was a chance to escape from this world. Can’t say I blame him I guess… But I do wish that he would have spent less time on those books and more time with me. Maybe if he had I would have avoided the Slavers all together.”

“Sorry I laughed.”

“No, it’s fine. I probably deserved it for calling you a cunt earlier… Even I laugh at it from time to time. But that’s enough of my life story… I think I may have a solution to your cutie mark problem.”

“Really?! What is it?”

“There is a doctor in the Shattered Gleam that specializes in burns. He has even been known to do cosmetic surgery. I’m sure if anybody knows how to see what’s under that branding, he will. Hell, he might even be able remove the branding all together for the right price.”

“Then we have a destination. Let’s get going. “

“I know you’re in a rush to fix your cutie mark. I would freak out if it was my cutie mark. They’re the only thing that allows you to stand out in this place. But we need to search this place. I only have about 200 bottlecaps and about 100 pre-war bits.”

“Why… Why in the irradiated hell would you be carrying bottlecaps?”

“Bottlecaps are the currency in the Equestrian Wasteland. Since we are technically part of Equestria, we decided to just take their currency as our own.”

“Wait, the Frozen Wasteland is part of Equestria?”

“Equestria? Yeah, we’re a part if it… Not an important part though. The leaders of the Shattered Gleam are trying to make the Frozen Wasteland independent though. It’s not like it matters anyways. We never trade with the Equestrian Wasteland partly due to those damned Crystal Mountains. Ever try climbing a mountain? It’s not exactly a piece of rat pie.” I cringed at the thought of a rat pie. But the idea of pie did make me hungry… Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten in a while.

“Well that explains the bottlecaps, but what about the bits?”

“They are a sort of outdated currency. Since they weight more than a bottlecap most people leave them behind, but if you’re willing to carry them then you can buy stuff from the vending machines there. And the vending machines in the Shattered Gleam… Let’s just say those don’t sell just food. Need potions? You’re covered. Ammo? They’ll hook you up. Weapons? Better believe it. Other than that most ponies will buy them from you for two bottlecaps on the bit. Not worth it if you ask me, since you can get stuff from the vending machines you can’t get anywhere else.”

“Where can we find bottlecaps?”

“Pretty much anywhere and everywhere. Pre-War ponies were really obsessed with their cola… I’ve found bottlecaps in some strange places. Nothing like looking in a safe expecting to find a nice weapon or something like that… And finding bottlecaps. I’ve even found them in cash registers! Honestly, what were those ponies thinking?”

“What about the bits?”

“Mostly either in houses or businesses. But they are quite a bit rarer than bottlecaps. If you can’t find any don’t worry too much. The Shattered Gleam has a store that makes them for three caps on the bit.”

“Aren’t you worried that you’ll eventually run out of bottlecaps?”

“Oh now that ain’t gonna happen for a long time! Over the time since the war ponies have probably searched about… 25 percent of the total Frozen Wastes. And even then some ponies aren’t exactly the best scavengers. They’ll miss more bottlecaps than you could shake a carrot at. And of course there is the Shattered Gleam bottlecap press.”

“So, has this building been searched before?”

“Nope. Some ponies this place is haunted. Same way for most hospitals… And schools.”

“Well in that case we should probably get started looting.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

“I’m pretty sure they have…”

“Figure of speech 42… Figure of speech.”

“Oh…”

“Go ahead and get the first floor. I’ll see what I can find down here.”

“Got it.” I ascended the stairs back into the dark hallway.

“Use that horn of yours to light the halls. This place was pretty much run off magic back in the day. There is usually a magical generator somewhere on the first floor.” I nodded and began my search for a generator. Of course that was easier said than done. Even though the place was missing half of its building it was still large.

I stopped walking down the hall when I spotted a map hanging on the wall. According to the map there were about 40 rooms on each floor. With the building missing a wing that meant each floor was down to at least 25 ½ rooms each floor. (One of the rooms is halfway a part of the wing that is gone.) Luckily for us the generator room was not in the destroyed wing.

I made my way to the generator room and opened the door. Inside was a… unpleasant sight. The floor was littered with skeletons of ponies. I had no idea why they had been in here, but I guess it had something to do with the walls being made of a hard look metal. Perhaps they that it would help stop the mega-spells?

Their bones snapped under my hooves as I made my way through them. It saddened me that they were having their eternal rest interrupted by me, but what was I to do? Make a grave for every one of them? There had to be at least 30 of them. It was best that I just activated the generator and then left them to their endless sleep.

The generator was a large contraption that indeed looked like it ran on magic. On the front was a terminal that was probably for controlling the power flow. On the left side was instruction on proper use. And finally on the right side was a small indentation about the size of a horn. I walked over to it and placed my horn in it. As soon as I did I felt a small surge go through my horn followed immediately by a sense of being drained of my energy.

I pulled away from the oversized machine and fell on my back. The machine began to whir and click as it activated. Within seconds I could hear machinery all around me as it began to power the various machines.

Even though my body protested, I stood and walked once more over to the generator. This time to the terminal on the front and activated it. After a moment of warming up and going through the initial power up it glowed as a screen pulled up.

I banged my hoof against it as it asked for the password. The chances of finding the password in the place were very slim. What were we supposed to do now?

“Hey, I heard the machine power up, but we still don’t have any lights. What’s wrong?”

“I hate computers… The useless thing is asking for a password. We’d have better luck finding a living pony in this pile of bones than we have finding the password.”

“Allow me.” He walked up to the terminal and did… Something. After he did whatever it was a screen popped up with a bunch of meaningless characters. No… Hidden in those characters were a couple of words.

“What’d you just do?”

“Activated the storage area for possible override passwords. Each time you do that a menu of override passwords will appear. After that it’s just a game of guess the password.” I watched as he scrolled through the words and began to pick them out. After three tries he closed the terminal and re-activated it.

“Did you get it?”

“No… After four tries you get locked out and told to report to an administrator. There’s a trick though. If you shut down the terminal and turn it back on the override password will reset.” He pulled up the override screen once more and did the same thing as before. This time however, he managed to get it right. With a beep the terminal pulled up its main screen.

“Good job!”

“No problem. I’m going to go back to the basement. Go ahead and give this place some power. If you want to you can also see if there is any information on the terminal for us to use”

“I’ll do that.” He left me with the terminal. I walked over to it and looked at the list of options. The first was to give to building power. The second was something called A.F.F.G. And the last option appeared to be a journal from someone that lived in something called Stable 32.

I selected the first option and like clockwork the lights began to power on. I started to select the second option, but stopped myself just in case it was something bad. Instead I selected the last option and began to read the journals.

([])-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-([])

Virus detected on terminal! To ensure the virus does not spread; all previous entries have been temporarily deleted. Please see an administrator to solve the issue.

Entry #56 – Construction on that stable finished today. Honestly, does anypony really believe the Zebra’s would have anything powerful enough to wipe out an entire country? It’s all pretty much bullcrap. Oh well. It’s not like a simple maintenance pony like me could have any say in it. Just wish they wouldn’t have taken half my basement to build the damned thing…

Entry #57 – Confound it! Not only did they take my basement and remove my access from it, but now they go and do this! They demanded access to this terminal to add something called an A.F.F.G, which apparently means Automated Force Field Generator. Apparently they didn’t think the steel walls would be tough enough to stop the zebra’s so they decided to add a magic-proof force field to protect the hospital as well! They messed with the wrong pony…

Entry #58 – 75 - Error! These files do not exist.

Entry #76 – Those damned people from the stable told me that I have to move my journals to another terminal… Apparently they’re afraid of me hacking their precious force-field and messing with it. Now why would I do that? Oh! I know! Because they took my damned basement from me! That place was like a second home to me… Besides, it’s the principle of it! Let’s see how their little force-field works when I de-activate the automatic part of it! Now the only way to activate it is manually.

Entry #77 – Error! This file has been corrupted.

Entry #78 – Damn… Looks like those damned ministry ponies were right… Those fucking zebra’s launched something called Mega-spells at us… This hospital would have survived if I hadn’t disabled the force-field. Sure, I’m alive because I slept in the basement… But that doesn’t excuse these poor ponies before me. They look like they died trying to reach the terminal and it’s my fault… There’s no way I can live with the guilt of this… I’ve decided to take my own life rather than live with the guilt of killing hundreds of ponies. If you’re reading this; I’m sorry…

Log in time out! Shutting down…

([])-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-([])

I didn’t know what to make of that… So the force-field was meant to protect the hospital, but never got a chance to. But what and where was this Stable 32? He said it was in the basement, but there wasn’t anything down there. Had he somehow hidden it? Or… Maybe it had something to do with the A.F.F.G? Only one way to find out…

I selected the A.F.F.G. As soon as I did I felt a loud vibration from all around me. After a moment the vibrations stopped. The force-field should be up, but did it do anything else? I went back to the main screen of the terminal and noticed there was a new option.

Open access hall to Stable 32.

I immediately selected it and backed away from the terminal. A moment after selecting it I heard a loud screeching noise from downstairs followed by daring screaming. I made my way downstairs with haste and noticed that the entire left wall was gone. Near it Daring was standing there staring at the wall.

“What the hell did you do? I nearly pissed myself…” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Whoops…” I walked over to where he was and stared at the gaping hole on the wall. Inside was a large staircase that lead down for about thirty feet then exited into a hallway.

“Sure, it’s funny when I get scared half to death! I thought the ceiling was collapsing on me.”

“Sorry. Should we go down?”

“It’s worth a shot… You lead. I’m too shaky to do anything correctly right now.”

“Don’t trip down the stairs okay?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to get hurt.”

“No, because if you do you’ll hit me on the way down!” I laughed as he gave me a look of anger.

“Oh ha ha.” I made my way to the edge of the staircase and looked down it. All the lights on the way down seemed to have been destroyed by something, so the whole way down was dark as night. Upon stepping of the last step I looked down the hallways. At the end was a large steel door in the shape of a gear with a 32 painted in the middle of it.

“So this is one of the stables… I thought they only built those south of the Crystal Mountains.” Daring walked forward and put a hoof on the large steel door. “My grandparents came from a stable… It’s one of the main reasons they moved out here; so they could get away from all the stables. They told stories of horrible things that happened in them.”

“I’d understand if you don’t want to go in.”

“No… it’s best if I go in. I need to see with my own eyes why they hated them so much.”

“You can have the honor of opening it.” He nodded and walked over to the control panel.

With the simple press of a button the door began to creak. I watched as a light above the door lit up as a siren accompanied it. Within moments the door was squealing as the large door slid backwards. Dust fell off of it as the door that hadn’t been activated since before the war once more came to life.

“An old world door to Celestia knows what… And I’m the one that opened it. It just feels weird.”

“Think there’s anything living inside?” Daring looked at me and shrugged. Obviously we were only getting the answer one way. I stepped onto the platform in which the large steel door had just been. I started to step into the stable, but decided that maybe daring wanted to first.

“You want to go in first?” Okay, so I was a little scared… But who knows what’s living in this thing.

“I’m good. It’s all yours.” I gulped and placed my hoof in the stable. A part of me half expected the floor to just cave in and drop me into an endless pit. Of course that was just plain silliness. Once I was sure that I wasn’t going to die horribly by forces unknown I stepped fully into the Stable.

“It’s safe. Well at least the entrance hall is.” I began to walk around the room. The walls were beginning to rust from years of neglect; the floors covered in dust. All around I could smell what I hoped wasn’t death. Whatever it was it wasn’t pleasant.

“This place could use a good cleaning.” I walked into a small room that was beside the only door. Inside looked like a small maintenance office complete with a terminal.

“Hey, found a terminal.”

“Why don’t you try unlocking this one? I won’t be there every time you find a locked terminal.”

“I’m on it.”

“While you do that I’m going to see what’s in that door over there.” He walked to the door and walked through.

“All right terminal… Let’s see what old world secrets you hold.” I turned on the terminal and brought up the override menu. I wasn’t the best at it, but I eventually got it after nearly being locked out twice. As it would turn out the password was ‘Overseer’, whatever that was.

I opened the main menu. Unfortunately there seemed to be only one option. Whatever the cryogenics lab was it was now unlocked. I stepped away from the terminal and walked through the door Daring had just gone through.

“Daring?” I waited for a reply.

“Yeah?” I looked down the hall that Daring had just called back from.

“Is there anything down that way?”

“Yeah, it seems to be some living quarters.”

“Go ahead and search around there. I’m going down the other way.”

“Be careful!”

“Same to you.” I turned away from the hall and began to walk down it. Luckily the lights were still on which made my job much easier. I began to slow down as I started to feel a cold draft. It was as if there was something frozen nearby, but everything seemed normal.

I kept going down the hall until I reached a door in the right. Strangely it seemed to be the only door on this side of the Stable. I put my hoof on it and immediately regretted it. The door was colder than anything I had ever felt before! I looked up at the vent above it. There was smoke coming out of the vent, but it felt strangely cold…

I rubbed my front hooves together. With a quick pull the door flew open releasing a blast of cold air that actually nearly froze my eyes open. Whatever was in there, it was at least below -20 degrees. If I went in then I wouldn’t last very long. But… I also wanted to know what was in there.

I focused my magic into a force field just long enough to surround me and walked in. Amazing! It was actually working! I didn’t expect it to and was just going of hopes. Good to see my hopes actually turn out to serve my purposes sometimes.

I looked around through the blue force-field trying to find something that could clear the freezing cold cloud out of the room. My hopes began to diminish until I saw a terminal. Unfortunately… I would have to drop the force-field to activate it. If I worked quickly then I would be able to see what was on the terminal then raise my force-field once more. It would work.

It had to.

I prepared to activate the terminal then dropped the force-field. Immediately the cloud of freezing air hit me like with enough cold air to make me stop breathing. I began to panic as my focus on the terminal in front of me began to diminish. It was all I could to be able to just raise my hoof to the terminal.

Even though I was freezing I began to guess the passwords. My panic continued to grow as the first lockout became imminent. I restarted the terminal and began to shiver trying to warm myself. Fear took over me as I realized I couldn’t move my back hooves. Upon looking back at them I discovered that they had frozen solid.

And the freezing was slowly going up my legs to my body.

I tried to guess the password again. My panic overflowed once I failed again. If I messed up again then I would become a frozen Popsicle in the shape of a unicorn. And that just didn’t sound very fun. The terminal finally activated again and I brought up the override menu. Two tries down… One more failure and it was over. I guessed one last time.

It wasn’t right.

I felt the ice at the top of my hind hooves. The moment it reached my body it would all my over. My heart wouldn’t be able to handle the loss of half of my body’s blood flow. A glimpse of hope was still left though… I could use the last guess and risk a lockout. It’s not like getting locked out would matter.

I hovered over the word ‘Ministry’ and activated it. My eyes glowed with hope as the main menu popped up. With haste I activated the menu entry labeled ‘Ventilate cryogenics lab’. The moment I did I heard a fan activate somewhere. Immediately the cloud around me began to dissipate away. I could feel the temperature returning to normal around me and my hooves begin to crack as the ice around them broke away.

With a shake the ice began to break away although my hooves were still number than they had been after getting that shot back in the lab. Still, at least I wasn’t a pony Popsicle.

With the frozen cloud gone I was free to search the lab. It was actually much larger than I thought; spanning about the size of ten of the entrance halls combined. Most of the room was taken up by test tubes that were occupied by frozen ponies… And other things I couldn’t identify.

I slowly walked down the corridor between the tubes and looked into them. Each was occupied by a pony or some other strange creature. Each tube had a name on it which I assume belonged to the pony in it. But what I wanted to know was what those creatures were.

Each creature was about half the size of a pony. They had the normal features of a pony, but with the slight difference of having spear like appendages. What in the actual hell happened in this place? I walked back to the terminal to see if I could get any answers.

Upon further examination I realized that I missed an option in the main menu. It was another journal sub-menu which seemed to be relevant to a researcher that worked in the cryogenics lab. This one was different from the last though, since it seemed to write the journal from speech.

([])-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-([])

Research Journal #1 (Day 3) – The cryogenics lab is finally up and running! It’s been about three days since this stable sealed; three days since the zebra’s launched their Mega-spells at us. We had a slight power issue for about two days since the force-field that was supposed to activate above us didn’t work as planned. But we finally got everything running, and the overseer has given me the go ahead for starting the experiment. But first I need to make some preparations.

Research Journal #2 (Day 4) – Finally! I received my first specimen today! The overseer sent me a Unicorn by the name of Dawn. Guess names don’t really matter once the overseer signs your life over to me. I was disappointed to learn that my first subject was only sent to me to see if our Cryogenic tubes actually work. I know for a fact they work! But I guess you can’t be too safe… I’m going to freeze dawn then see if she is able to be un-frozen tomorrow.

Research Journal #3 (Day 5) – Interesting… I un-froze Dawn just moments ago, and my findings were much more interesting than I originally thought, if not more worrying. She managed to live for about three minutes before she collapsed to the ground. I’m guessing that her heart was able to hold out for a few moments before it realized most of her other organs had failed upon freezing. I’m going to have to run some more tests at different freezing rates on the ponies that are sent to me. I will eventually find a freezing time that will allow the pony to be un-frozen years later none the worse for wear.

Research Journal #4 (Day 30) – I’m a genius! I finally managed to find a temperature and exposure time that won’t cause the organs of the specimen to fail! He awoke thinking that not a single moment had passed, and said it was like he had simply blinked and awoke somewhere else. Sure, forty ponies had died in the process of finding this, but such is the journey of science! Sacrifices must be made, and now thanks to their sacrifices we may live for much longer than thought! The overseer has volunteered to be the first to be frozen into the new age. I will start the freezing tomorrow.

Research Journal #5 (Day 143) – I’ve been alone in this stable for about… 100 days now. I actually don’t mind, since all my time is now dedicated to my experiments. As per the Overseers final requests I have been splicing pony DNA with various samples they have given me. Of course the DNA I am taking does not compromise the safety of the frozen ponies… I would never hurt my research!

Research Journal #6 (Day 230) – YES! I finally did it! HA! They said I would never succeed, but I did! Yes, I did! I have spliced pony DNA with specimen sample 145 which is the DNA of… Hmm… I seem to have forgotten what the DNA came from. Oh well, what it came from doesn’t matter. I have named the resulting experiment the Cryospear, seeing as their appendages end at a spear like formation. The only problem is the creature tends to be hostile. To combat the situation I’m going to freeze my new creation much like the ponies long ago. After I’ve found a way to train them then I will release them and train them to run this facility after I pass. Until then I’m going to create more and freeze them as well in case of emergency.

Research Journal #7 (Day 754) – HAHAHA! I’ve created another creature! I call it the pencilpaper! It’s created by splicing pencil DNA with paper DNA! They even know how to have a normal conversation! Isn’t that right pencil paper? Yes, yes I do believe that I’m the best researcher to ever exist! Oh? What’s that? Yes! Yes I should combine my DNA with you! Imagine it! Doctor Pencilpaper! what… No, no! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to spill the coffee on you! No, get away from me! No!

ERROR! Sound and voice recognition software has encountered an error and needs to restart. Error report 2423a: bad driver software.

([])-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-I-0-([])

I looked around myself trying to find the scientist. After searching for a moment I found him under the desk. The skeleton was lying curled in a ball with a pencil wrapped in paper in the eye socket of it; the paper stained in dried blood. The pony had obviously gone crazy and stabbed himself believing the pencil to be a living creature. What a way to go…

At least I now knew what those creatures were. And now that I did I knew I didn’t want them being released into the Stable. I opened the main menu once more and began to search for a way to possibly kill the abominations without releasing them. My eye lit up upon seeing an option… But it wasn’t the option that I wanted to use.

Terminate all subjects.

That was the closest option to killing the experiments available. But… Wouldn’t that kill all the ponies in the tubes as well? I wasn’t willing to risk it, but I also couldn’t risk allowing those abominations to live. What was I to do? Might I be able to unlock the tubes for all the ponies? Or do they need to stay in for a set amount of time to live.

All the capsules were to be opened at the same time. No doubt the ponies would be slaughtered by the creatures before they even had time to figure out what happened. Then what? The creatures escape and terrorize the wasteland. How do I manage to get myself into these situations?

I was faced with three options… I could either release the ponies one by one and risk them dying from shock; I could kill every specimen which would result in the death of all the ponies; or I could just leave them be, which would more than likely end up with the ponies being slaughtered by the abominations. None of those options looked good for the ponies…

I had finally come to a conclusion… I was going to release the ponies one by one since that held the highest chance of them living. I guess it was time to start.

=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=_-_=

It had taken us about half an hour to free all of the ponies save for one. Daring had joined me about five minutes after I started since the living area wasn’t anything special. The most interesting thing he had found was a potion of healing. After he finished I filled him in and we started releasing the ponies.

All of them had questions upon being released, but we simply told them to wait for us to finish releasing the other. And now we were down to one last pony… The overseer. I pressed the button on the side of the capsule. Within seconds the capsule began to hiss as the inhabitant was thawed. He fell forward onto his stomach then pulled himself up.

“Ugh… Who are you two? Has the world been rebuilt? Is it safe to leave?”

“Not exactly…”

“How long has it been since the war?” Daring and I looked at each other. He shrugged to me and I myself had no idea.

“Sorry, no idea.”

“Well then why the hell did you release me?”

“That.” I pointed to the Cryospear in the capsule. He walked over to it and put his hoof on the viewing glass. Afterwards he turned around swiftly and looked at both of us.

“What the hell is this thing?”

“A creature that the scientist in charge created. He believed that it was his duty to splice pony DNA with other samples.”

“What? You mean doctor Genic?”

“I guess. Whoever was in charge of this lab.”

“Yes, that was him… But I never told him to experiment on DNA. I told him to freeze us all then set the timer for 200 years. After that he was supposed to see if the strain of pony DNA from outside the stable was mutated.”

“I guess he heard you wrong because he created those things and thought of them as his babies. So much that he froze them and set them to be released later for training. Unfortunately he killed himself so he was never able to train them.”

“How do you know all this? Are you from Stable-tek?”

“Stable what now? No, we found this place. I got all this from his journals on the terminal. You could ask him yourself… But he’s kind of taking an eternal nap with Pencilpaper under his desk”

“Oh… Well how’s the situation top-side?”

“It’s… Not bad. Not good, but not bad.” I stopped talking as Daring stepped in.

“The Shattered Hooves –Leaders of the Shattered Gleam- are about to sign a declaration of peace with the Warmth-bringers. Once it is signed they promised that all the hostile creatures will be wiped out and a new age of peace will take over the Frozen Wasteland.”

“So the world has rebuilt?”

“Yes… And no. The Frozen Wasteland may be seeing peace soon, but the Equestrian Wasteland is another story. It’s still run by slavers and still suffers assaults by raiders. And if that’s not enough the place is still radiated pretty badly. Oh and there is a cloud cover over it that never seems to go away.”

“So they actually did it… Damned chickenshit pegasi...”

“What was that?” I chimed back in.

“Err, nothing to worry about.”

“Daring, go explain what is going on to all the other ponies. I’m going to help the overseer settle back in.”

“Right on it captain!”

“Don’t ever call me that again.”

“You got it boss!”

“Don’t call me that either.”

“All right sport.” I grunted in frustration which prompted Daring to nearly fall over laughing.

“Just go do it before I shove you in one of these capsules.” He walked off still laughing his head off. I turned back to the overseer to see he too was stifling a laugh.

“Sorry, sorry!” He exploded into laughter before pulling himself back together. “Sorry, it wasn’t really that funny… It’s just I haven’t been able to laugh about much considering my job and all.” I simply stared at the overseer before I myself began to smile.

“Maybe I could use a laugh. Anyways… We should probably do something about these abominations.”

“You’re absolutely right.” I lead the overseer to the terminal.

“If you want you can read the journal entries.”

“It’d be best if I did.” I stepped aside and allowed him access to the terminal. After about three minutes he backed away and looked down below the desk. “You… Bastard.”

“What?” He turned to me with anger in his eyes. Anger that wasn’t directed to me, but towards the dead pony under the table.

“He told me those forty ponies were already placed into capsules! I told him the correct freeze temperatures and times! He knew from the start, but he still started off with his own… The blood of those ponies is on my hands… I’m the one that sent them to him because he said he wanted to make sure the capsules were working correctly. When I investigated into their disappearances he told me that they were in the capsules he kept in the back room… And like an idiot I believed him.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“You’re right… But I should have. The safety of the ponies in this stable was my responsibility… The sole job of this vault –and mine in retrospect- was to make sure all the ponies lived long enough to see a new age of the world. I guess the stable’s social experiment failed…”

“But now’s your time for redemption. End those creatures’ lives and lead the citizens of the stable into the new world. There is a whole wasteland out there that will soon be in an era of peace.”

“You’re right… I had a moment of weakness.” The overseer stepped back up to the terminal. With a single hit of a button it was done. We both turned to watch as the capsules all began to flash red from within. After just a moment the lights faded away and the job was done. None of the capsules were occupied anymore; their residents nothing but a bunch of shattered glass.

“It’s done… For what it’s worth… Thank you. We would have been killed by those things when the time released all of us. If it wasn’t for you we would have died. Come, I have something I want to give you.” I nodded to him and began to follow him down the hall to the living quarters. We stopped at the doorway, but instead of going in her turned to the wall.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see… If you would, please?”

“If I- Oh.” I turned away from him. Clicking noises could soon be heard behind me followed soon by the noise of metal scraping against metal. I turned back around to the once existent wall to see it was now a hole that revealed a staircase that lead up.

The overseer walked up them until we reached yet another door, which he promptly opened. Behind it was a large room with a circular window on the left side that had a view of what I guessed was the living quarters. The rest of the room consisted of terminals and lockers all surrounding a semi-hexagonal desk in the middle.

“Here we are… My office.”

“Oh you’re giving me an office? How lovely!” He laughed once more.

“No, no… This is mine. I have something else for you. Are you familiar with stable technology?”

“No, not that I’m aware of.”

“Hmm… Well, allow me to introduce you to…” He reached into a cabinet near him and pulled out a rather large, rather expensive looking bracelet. The thing even had knobs and a screen. “To the Pip-Buck 300.” He handed it out to me. “Go ahead, take it.”

I levitated it away from him and began to examine it. The thing looked like a highly technological hoof mounted computer. The screen was the same as the terminals, but was smaller and seemed to be able to display more than just text.

“What is it exactly?” I looked away from it and to him.

“One of the most useful things to ever be created. Go ahead, put it on.” I levitated the thing to my right hoof and began to place it on. As soon as it detected it was around my wrist it locked on tight enough to lock it in place, but not tight enough to restrict blood flow.

I watched as a screen appeared that had the image of a pony on it. Around it was a bunch of lines with percentages that pointed to various limbs. Each percentage was at 100 and the face of the pony was smiling quite brightly.

“That’s the status screen. You can access current effects on your body from there as well as see the condition of your limbs. If any of your bones break or if you take a large amount of damage to that limb it will inform you. You can also see a representation of your body’s pain threshold at the top. Once that meter drops all the way, you can pretty much assure yourself you won’t be getting up.”

“Wow…” I used my magic to turn the knob on the left. Another screen popped up in response; this one of a list of things I was carrying. “How… How does it do that?!”

“That’s a mystery we never solved. Not only does it do that, it also somehow calculates the value of each item. It’ll tell you what armor you’re wearing; what weapon you have equipped; what’s in your bag; and even the condition of weapons and armor using some sort of highly complicated scientific equation.”

I turned to the last screen which promptly opened a map. There were three options on this screen; one was a map of the entire Frozen Wasteland; one a map of the area around me; and the last a note section that was somehow connected to the map.

“That is your map screen. You’ll be able to check your map that is updated constantly. You can also set markers to appear on your map. Oh, speaking of your map… Press that button on the left.” I did as asked. Immediately a small compass appeared on the screen that also had little blips on it. Every one of them was yellow as opposed to the normal green of the screen.

“That is the Eyes Forward Sparkle or E.F.S if you will. It acts as a compass. But the best part is that it will tell you if a living creature is hostile or not. I’m not sure how exactly it does it, but it’s usually always accurate.”

“How…”

“Don’t question it.” I looked up to see him smiling. “Just accept it.”

“Thanks.”

“There is one last thing you might find useful…”

“And what would that be?”

“Press that button right there.” He pointed a hood towards a small button that was on the right side of the Pip-Buck. I pressed it and the world was reduced to a slow crawl. I was able to target the same limbs that were marked on the status screen… But on the overseer with a percentage around each one. This percentage did not seem to be the damage value of each, but instead it appeared to be a chance to do something.

I dropped out of the strange feeling and looked towards the overseer. “What was that? It was like the world was slowed extremely.”

“It was only slowing time down? Hmm… The S.A.T.S onboard program must be an older version of it… Sorry, but I don’t have any more Pip-Bucks.”

“It’s fine… What was that?”

“That was S.A.T.S or Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting System if you will. It’s a magical spell built into the device that is supposed to stop time and allow you to make well aimed shots. You may have noticed a percentage?”

“Yes.”

“That percentage is your chance to hit that specific part of the body. Of course it needs recharging to work, so you’ll find you need to wait between shots to use it again. In normal circumstance it would actually stop time in your eyes and allow you to think strategies. Unfortunately for you that one only seems to slow time down to a crawl. You should still be able to make great use of it though.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Saving the entire stable was plenty. A simple Pip-Buck won’t be enough to suffice the great service you did for us.”

“Your gratitude is enough. Anything else I should know about this thing?” The overseer put his hoof to his chin as he thought. Moments later the hoof went from his chin and into the air.

“Yes! I almost forgot one of the most useful features of the inventory section! It has a built in organizer. It will work in conjunction with your saddlebags to move the contents in alphabetical order. What luck that your saddlebags support the option! It will also automatically reload the weapons in your bag that you’re not currently using. Oh, and it also has an onboard repair screen that will show you how to put two sets of armor together to make a better quality version of it. Same with weapons. You’ll also find you’ll have more room due to the superior organization.”

I chuckled as I realized how genius the pre-war ponies were. “Technology…”

“Oh, and if you find yourself needing to hear some tunes you can turn on the radio too. It will show you a list of available signals. Before the war there were a lot of them… Now days, I doubt it. Still nice nonetheless.”

“You have no idea how much you just helped me.”

“No prob-“His eyes lit up like a light bulb. I watched in confusion as he began to rip the contents of multiple drawers out. He eventually came up with a small square technological object. “This will be of great use to a unicorn such as you! I assume you know magic am I right?”

“I’ve been known to use magic from time to time, yes.”

“Excellent! Install this driver data to the Pip-Buck.” I took the small object and plugged it into the Pip-Buck. Installing…

“That is a driver that will enable an onboard spell book. You’ll be able to see all your available spells that you know. Not only that, it will also tell you you’re progress in mastering your spell as well as a description on what that spell will do.”

“Why doesn’t every Pip-Buck already have this?”

“That was a side project that was being worked on by the arctic north branch of the Ministry of Technology. They scrapped it after they realized they could be working on more important things. Not wanting to see it go to waste, I took the prototype and had it finished. That’s the only driver that exists.”

“And you’re sure you don’t mind me having it?”

“Completely sure.” He closed his eyes and smiled from ear to ear. “You’re a friend here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“This vault is in need of a good cleaning. I’m going to get it cleaned up and back to running at full efficiency. We may have failed out social experiment, but we still live on. Our only goal now is to make sure that we survive this new era.”

“Good luck… But I have to go now.”

“I understand. Good luck out there and may your life have meaning.”

“Back at ya.” The door closed quietly behind me; my hooves the only sound besides the low hum as I descended the stairs. Trotting down the hall I couldn’t help but examine the steel walls around me. They were so similar to something I’d seen before, but I couldn’t place my horn on what. The sound of hooves walking behind me became audible as well as the sound of Daring.

“Hey! You weren’t about to leave me down here were you?”

“What? Oh, sorry. I guess I was caught up in thought. Ready to go… Friend?”

“Friend? But we’ve only known each other for about an hour…”

“Don’t question it. I know I have you there to get my backs so you’re a friend in my book.”

“Thanks… Feels good to actually have a friend that isn’t just a friend because you have to be.” Steel grinding against steel woke me from my still deep in thought bubble of distraction. We had somehow already made it back to the stable door, which was closing behind us. I could still feel the Pip-Buck pressed tightly against the coat on my hoof. And… It felt good to have something that useful so close.

“Something on your mind 42?”

“Hmm? Oh it’s nothing… I just can’t help but feel trapped in my own mind... I know little about myself besides why I was going to the Shattered Gleam. You don’t know what it’s like to wonder what you are like; what your own personality was… What your actual name is.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll find out who you were before the amnesia. It’s the least I could do after you helped me get out of being a slaver…”

“Heh… What a pair. A unicorn with no name and amnesia and a former slaver earth pony with the name of a character from a book.”

“Yep. Can’t say it’s the most normal pair up ever. So… What do we do now 42?”

“Now… Now we go to the Shattered Gleam. It’s time I found out who I was.”

“That’s quite a bit away. But we can make it.” He nudged me as we exited into the hallway of the hospital. Our hoofsteps rang out in inharmoniously as I looked once more at the ruined hospital around us. For just a moment there I swore I saw the place as it had been in old times, but it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me.

“Good to know.” The doors swung open allowing a blast of cold air to blow through our manes. The force-field around the hospital stood brightly doing its job… To preserve the hospital from mega-spells and magic alike. Too bad it was still in the old days; believing that the bombs were to fall soon… This hospital would now stand as a monument to the power of the old world that was felled by the anger of ponies before.

And as a monument to a friendship between me and Daring that would never end. Maybe that’s why I was sad to go, but my destiny was in the shattered city miles away from here. And Daring would be by my side through it all.

“Mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure Daring, what is it?”

“How did you know I wasn’t happy as a slaver? I mean… I was careful to make sure to be a complete asshole.”

“I just knew you weren’t bad… I could see the fear in your eyes; the sadness as you looked me over knowing that soon I’d probably be a sex slave. I don’t know… I guess I’m just able to see the best in ponies.”

“Is that why you let Ashton go?”

“Who?”

“The leader of my group… You know, he was always like a brother to me. Even though he was brother that wanted to see me sold as a slave. He was still the one that took me in after my father died.”

“I don’t know… He chose his life; much like I’ve chosen mine. Sure it was a bad life choice, but I can’t hate him for that. I can however hate him for what he does to other ponies. Maybe I should have killed him, but he was unarmed. Wouldn’t I just be the same as him if I killed him while he was defenseless?”

“I see… Good to see some ponies still have a sense of good in them. Even the Warmth-bringer would have just killed him and celebrated about it afterwards.” The snowfall around us continued to grow as our conversation carried on; the cold beating down upon both of us with enough force to cause both of our teeth to begin chattering. But still we carried on… Because nothing was going to stop me from stopping the Shattered Ones even if I knew nothing about them.

“We should save our energy for the walk. Save your breath.”

“Sure.”

We trotted silently through the snow as it fell gently upon us. The only sounds around us in the peace of the afternoon was the whistling of the wind and the sounds of out hooves crunching the weak snow beneath us. Wondering freely through the snow gave me plenty of time to think… Think about my past. I knew it was there; it was right in my grasps. But it was like there was a mental wall that was stopping me from accessing the memories. And that wall would have to be bypassed brick by brick. And with each brick that fell I knew that I would uncover my past bit by bit until it was all revealed to me.

Snowflake upon snowflake fell around us growing ever heavier until a full scale blizzard was upon us. The cold wind blew out manes carelessly and violently through the bitter cold air. The tears began to fall from my eyes as the cold assaulted my eyes. As these tears fell I began to think back to that night when I was a filly. As I thought the full memory began to come clear and I knew then… I knew that the first brick of the wall had finally fallen.

=O=0=O=0=O=

“Mom…” The snow fell gently as my mother’s smile as we tracked carefully through the snow to a destination unknown.

“Yes my little pony?”

“Why didn’t papa come with us?” Mothers smile turned to a frown as her eyes saw a truth I was not yet aware of.

“Daddy… He… He had to go away for a while, okay honey?”

“Where did he go?” Eyes fell upon me. Eyes filled with sadness due to circumstances I could never understand. But… Those same sad eyes also contained love for me.

“He went far away. But…” My mother stopped walking and lied down next to me. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she placed a hoof in my hair. With gentleness akin to that of the soft blowing wind she began to brush through my mane. “He’ll always be with you; with us. In your heart. He loves you so much… That’s why he had to leave. Had to stop the ponies that wanted you.”

“Will we see daddy again?”

She sniffled before standing up. “One day… But for now we have to be strong for him. Okay honey?” She wiped the slowly crystallizing tears away from her eyes.

“Okay mommy.”

“Here… You’re hooves must be tired. Go ahead and hop on my back. I’ll carry you.” She squatted down and allowed me onto her back. The gracefulness of her trotting began to rock my mind into peace. Within minutes I could feel the peace of sleep coming over me. We would soon be in the Shattered Gleam and all would be fine in our lives.

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The coldness was unbearable. I began to attempt to curl into my mother’s warm back, but was greeted with only the cold of the snow and the black of the night.

My eyes opened to see I was not moving nor even on the high perch of my mother’s back, but on the ground beneath the cover of a small alcove made of snow. Panic began to set over me as I shook the snow off my body. With haste and panic I exited the alcove to see a small fire to the immediate west of my position.

“Mom?!” Wind blew steadily though my mane as I dashed towards the fire. Had she placed me in the alcove to protect me from the wind? But if she did that then why didn’t she make the fire right next to the alcove?

“Mommy?!” My screams were drowned out by the heavy howl of the blizzard wind. Within moments the fire had blown out… But I didn’t need light to see what was around me. The once beautiful white snow was now stained with the red of blood. All around me laid the bodies of slaughtered ponies near a campsite.

Tears began to flow freely and quickly from my eyes as full blown panic set in. “MOM?! Anypony?! Somepony please help!”

“My… Little pony… Over here.” My ears perked up at the sounds of my mother’s beautiful voice. With immediate haste I began to dash over to her. My heart dropped once I saw her lying on the ground… In a pool of blood; a large gash going down the length of her stomach.

“No…” I dashed over to her and lied next to her. She weakly raised her only clean hoof and placed it gently on my head.

“Please… Listen to me. I… Don’t have much time.” Her voice was slowly going to nothing more than a raspy gasp. “They came… Looking for you. I hid you so they would never take you.”

“Please, you’re going to be fine!”

“It’s alright my daughter. I know you’ll be fine. The Shattered Ones… They’ll stop at nothing to find you…” Blood began to trickle steadily from her mouth. “They took your father… And now they want you. You have the bloodline of a very powerful magic family. They’ll stop at nothing to get access to that magic.” Her hoof fell limply from my head as she took a deep breath.

“Go… Hide… You’ll be fine… My beautiful… daughter.” Her eyes closed for a final time as she fell limply forward. And just like that I was completely alone in this world… Before realizing it I had crawled under my mother’s still barely warm arm. All I could do was cry in fear of what was before me. I had nopony; nothing to aid me in my life.

I was completely alone.

My mother’s arm fell once more to the ground as I crawled out from under it. I had lied there for about an hour just wishing she would pick me and place me on her back once more. I knew it would never happen, but it felt good to have a little hope.

I stood in the middle of the massacred; my mother’s dried blood on my light blue coat. The starlight fell over me as I picked up a gun from a nearby pony and began to walk into the blizzard. The cold had no effect on me as I walked towards the tall tower in the distance. Because on that day all sadness left me.

And was replaced with anger and vengeance.

=O=0=O=0=O=

“42?! Are you alright?” The frozen tears stung my face as I snapped out of my memory.

“How long have we been walking.” I asked it not as a question, but as a demand.

“About two hours, why? Are you alright?” I looked down at the ground around me. Snow had fallen so much since that day, but the blood stains were forever stained into my memory. Most would see the area around us as a normal part of a field… I saw it as the place where my life was ripped in two.

In front of me I could see myself as a filly standing in the field with vengeance in her eyes. The filly and I met eye contact… And just like that she was gone just like my mother all those years ago. Wind blew steadily around us as thoughts forced themselves into my mind. Just like the wind however, the thought blew away before I could grasp them.

“I’m fine. Just thinking is all.” Shadows began to grow over us as snowflakes began to fall upon us. A blizzard would soon be upon us and it looked like a doozy.

“Don’t get too distracted. It may not look like it, but there are creatures that wonder around. The chances of running into them are low at least.” Tracks being left behind us, we continued onward at a slightly faster pace towards the now barely visible tower before us.

“Does anypony know what’s in that tower?” My memories served to remind me that everypony avoided that building that stood in the center of the Shattered Gleam. Matter of fact I don’t think anypony has ever even entered the sector it stood in.

“No… Everypony fears that old building. Mostly because of the rumors.”

“Rumors?” The snowfall began to grow heavier until we were barely able to see a silhouette of the tower in front of us.

“Oh yeah. Too many of them to count. One of the most common is that the tower is liable to fall if even a section of its disturbed. And one of the most ridiculous –but not impossible- is that it is haunted.”

“What is it anyways?”

“I assume you’ve heard of the ministries that headed Equestria during the war?” Images of the six ministry mares flashed before my eyes. I never was one interested in history, but I did know that these six ponies had their own ministry.

“I’m familiar with them, yes.”

“Well since we’re part of Equestria they thought it would be smart to at least put one branch of each ministry out here. So they did just that. Those old buildings all still stand, well except for one, but that another story. Anyways this one was built under the order of the Ministry of Magic.”

“And what’s so bad about that to make all the ponies afraid of it?”

“No idea. All I know is that it’s off limits unless you have permission by the leaders anyways. I think the leaders of the Shattered Gleam fear what’s hidden in there.”

“What about the other buildings?”

“They’re all still standing undisturbed. I guess that fear of the one in the Shattered Gleam carried over to all the others. It’s all you can do to make a pony even get near one of those things. I personally don’t see what the big deal is.” The blizzard began to wane slightly. At least enough for us to catch glimpse of the Shattered Gleam again.

“You mentioned one was no longer standing?”

“Oh yeah… The Ministry of Peace. The area around the Shattered Gleam was ripped to pieces by earthquakes as you know. As luck would have it, that building was in the middle of one of the small towns surrounding the Shattered Gleam. And an earthquake ripped right through the middle of the town.”

“So it’s gone?”

“Not quite. They obviously built those buildings to last, because it’s still standing, if you can call it that.”

“Quit with the riddles… What happened to it?”

“The whole thing managed to somehow slide down the side of the ravine caused by the earthquake. It now sits halfway down mostly intact. If you stand at the edge you can see it being barely held up by the west wing of the building, which somehow had its girders hook into the side of the ravine. It’s quite the sight to see.”

“Interesting… We’ll have to stop by there sometime. Imagine what secrets lay in that building…”

“Are you FUCKING INSANE? Not only would getting down that ravine be nearly impossible, there would be no way back up! And even if we did get down there, how in the world would we be sure that thing wouldn’t fall the rest of the way once we sat hoof in it?”

“Oh come on… That’s not very daring of you!” His eyes glared angrily at me as a smirk engulfed my face. But just as the blizzard, his anger didn’t last long.

“Knew you weren’t over my name just yet…”

“You got nothing on my name. Might as well enjoy messing with you until I find out my real name… Hope mine isn’t anything embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry…”

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll find out what my name is.”

“No, don’t worry… I’ll think of something to embarrass you with!” Our laughter was muffled out by the howling of the wind around us. The blizzard had died down as quickly as it had come, but snow did continue to fall.

“How long do you think it’ll take us to get to the Shattered Gleam?”

“From here? I’d say about…” His eyes closed as he began to mutter something to himself. “Five more hours. We should arrive around midnight.”

“What time does dusk usually hit?”

“Around seven.” I stopped and looked at my Pip-Buck screen. If the clock was to be trusted, it was 6:26 PM. Nightfall would soon be upon us.

“We better hurry. Night is… Not quite as peaceful as day.”

“And by that you mean…?”

“Marauders.”

“I take it they aren’t cupcake makers.”

“Far from it… Well, they might make cupcakes from your intestines. Other than that, no. They are essentially raiders, just without the craziness. Unlike raiders, they’re coordinated and know how to make plans. Fighting with them is definitely not fun.”

“So getting into a scuffle with them is a no-no.”

“Exactly. We’d probably survive a fight with a small group of them, but a bigger group… Anyways, they’re still drugged out raiders nonetheless. We should be fine as long as we just keep moving and keep an eye on our surrounding area.” Darkness began to slowly envelop the land around us; the moon beginning to reflect brilliantly off the snow giving a white gold glow off around us.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Yeah… Quite possibly the last beautiful thing in Equestria. Celestia knows you won’t see anything like this in the mainland.” As the sun set and the moon rose I couldn’t help but stare in awe as the snow drifted across the ground; moon reflecting off of it. Just the sight of something that beautiful was enough to make you forget the world had been devastated with mega-spells.

Our hooves continued to plow through the snow. Each new track granted us a slighter gleam of hope that we would reach our destination without freezing. And the whole walk, all I could think was... Who was I? I mean, I knew so far that I was not evil, and I knew magic. Yippee. So what was I supposed to do with that info?

I continued to ponder on myself as we neared ever closer to the behemoth tower before us. Before long I found myself reliving the haunting memory of my mother’s death. Why had it happened? More importantly, did I know why it happened? Maybe that was why I was heading to Shattered Gleam? No, a personal vendetta wouldn’t be enough… What was it then?

I continued to think until I found myself a mindless zombie. The cold of the blizzard that was growing around us didn’t even register on my numb mind. Hoof after numb hoof we arched forward to the truth before us. The Shattered Gleam likely didn’t have anything for Daring, but for me… It held possible answers. We’d soon be there, and that was ever closer to me finding out who I was.

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My eyes slowly began to scan over the town before us. We were now about a mile away after walking for what seemed to be an entire day. According to the Pip-Buck, it was actually only 4 hours, at a time of 10:21 P.M.

“Before we get there, tell me a bit about Shattered Gleam.”

“Sure. What do you want to know?” My mind immediately forced multiple questions forward. Stupid brain... Always overworking.

“How big is the place?”

“Too big to say. There are about 18 sectors, each serving a different purpose. The sectors are determined by the crevices that were formed from the earthquakes. Oh, and of course the ministry building has its own sector, which is never entered.”

“And about how big is each sector?’”

“Big enough to hold... Umm... Around 1,000 ponies on rationing. Fortunately there is only about a total of 1,000 ponies in the whole city.” 1,000 ponies? Sweet Celestia that’s a lot of ponies...

“Don’t the cracks and crevices pose a problem?”

“The leaders of the Shattered Gleam put very sturdy bridges between the sectors. As long as you don’t look down while you are crossing the bridge you’ll be fine.” I felt myself gulp as I realized that I most likely would look down. To be honest… I was terrified of heights. Just something about looking down from a high place just made me envision falling down to my death.

“You sure they’re sturdy…?”

“Oh yeah. I’ve crossed them too many times to count. Not even a wiggle or creak. Apparently they used a large supply of metal they found in a factory nearby.”

“Are slaver’s allowed in the town?” The question had been bugging me for a while. He spoke as if he had been there many times, but…

“Yes… And no. I was an undercover slaver. They don’t bother with checking up on anypony’s backgrounds. I was in charge of going into the town and buying the necessary supplies we needed. One of the reason I’m not good at aiming…”

“Not going’ to force you to learn to aim… But at least try? I’d rather not have a repeat of the basement.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll learn it eventually.” We shared a laugh. Can’t wait to get into a nice warm place… Wait! That’s right! Subject 41 left his house to me! Thank Celestia…

“Do we just walk in?”

“What time is it?”

“10:32.”

“We’ll have to talk to a guard to get in. The city goes under lock down after 10:00.”

“As long as I don’t have to sign anything.” I passed it off as a joke. Of course I knew how serious my situation was, but just worrying about it won’t do me any good.

“Just let me handle it. They know me.” We neared the large gate. The thing stood around twenty feet tall with a large gate made out of what appeared to be a very thick metal. Like very well maintained clockwork, a guard poked his head over the ledge above us upon stopping.

“Citizens or newcomers?” Daring stepped closer to the gate and began yelling back up to him.

“One merchant, one newcomer.”

“Name of merchant?”

“Daring Dash.” Would you two hurry up? I’m freezing my horn off here…

“Ahh yes, you are on record. And the newcomer?”

“Just a traveler. Can we just please come in?”

“Fine. Please stand away from the gate.” Daring Dash backed from the gate to my side. Within seconds the silence of the night was destroyed by the sounds of metal scraping against metal as the gate slid quickly into the ground.

“Enjoy your stay. I would advise that you check the map so as to find the nearest motel to stay in.”

We entered through to gate into a large plaza like area that was made of cobblestone with a dead tree in the center. All around the edge of the plaza were carts and small kiosks that were locked up tight. The only other sounds around us were the faint sounds of hooves beating against the walls above us.

“So… Should we find a motel?”

“No need. I have a place we can stay.”

“Were you ever going to mention that?”

“I just did didn’t I?”

“Yeah, well… But… I meant before!”

“You didn’t ask… Now where is the residential sector at?”

“Over here.” He showed me to a large map that displayed the Shattered Gleam from above.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“Look closer.” He pointed to a sector that was three sectors to the right of our current one. That would make that sector 15… Oh… They’re numbered.

“And you said that doctor that could fix my cutie mark is in sector 2?”

“Yes, but he is probably asleep. What house number is it that we are heading to?”

“House 1193.”

“Oh, I know where that is. That’s on the main road. How’d you score a house like that? Most of those houses are expensive.”

“A… Friend gave it to me.” Why in the world didn’t I just say Subject 41? Stupid brain…

“Nice… All right, come with me.” We trotted down the amazingly well lit street into sector 15. The whole time I found myself staring at the ministry building. My heart skipped a beat when I saw something in the top window… It may have just been my eyes playing tricks on me, but… I saw a pony staring at me from the top window!

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“There! In the top window of the ministry building.” We both stopped on the bridge connecting Sector 16 to Sector 15 and looked up. Whatever I had seen was gone now; replaced instead by an empty window that has years of dust and ash on it.

“You’re probably just tired. Like I said, they have that building locked up tight twenty four seven.”

“Yeah…” I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but I knew what I saw. I don’t know… Maybe I am just tired. We started our trip to Sector 15 once more when my eye caught onto something standing in the window again. This time I knew I wasn’t hallucinating… Because there was a pony up there with a purple coat, dark hair, and dark purple eyes staring down at me with sadness in her eyes.

I wanted to believe that I was just tired. I mean what would a pony be doing up there anyways? Even though I knew very well what I saw, I ignored it and chalked it up to a bunch of things. Namely how tired I was; how far of a distance it was from here to the top floor; (the building was at least 30 stories tall) and of course how dark it was.

“Here we are! Home sweet home.” The building before us was two stories tall, but strangely didn’t seem to be in the best condition compared to all the other houses that lined the streets.

“Thought you said all these houses were nice?”

“Hey, I live in a shack made from rusted metal. A cave would be nice to me!”

“Fair enough I suppose… Guess I shouldn’t be complaining.” I levitated the doormat up and began to shake it violently. Not surprisingly a key fell out of it which I promptly picked up and put into the door.

“Mares first.”

“Oh, then be my guest!” His upper eyelids lowered into a look of disapproval.

“I’m too cold for this… I’ll get you back later.”

“I’ll be waiting for waiting with bated breath!” We both entered into the (Thankfully) heated room. But… It wasn’t what I expected.

“Holy sweet molestation!” I gave my companion one of the strangest stares. I mean honestly? Molestation? Seriously? Wait! SWEET MOLESTATION?! How is that even sweet…? My mind forced me to worry about Daring’s obvious love of molesting as the smell of the room hit me full force.

“UGH! What is making that horrid smell?!”

“My guess is… Whatever the hell that is.” He pointed to the floor where a dead… Something was lying on the ground. That thing didn’t even look natural!

“That is disgusting…”

“Use your magic and get it outside of here!” I willingly levitated the creature up as daring held to door open. With a toss it flew out the door where it landed with a squish. The smell still lingered in the house though. Also… EW…

“Good… It’s gone. You wouldn’t happen to have anything to get rid of that smell would you?”

“Nope.” Great… Maybe the upstairs smelt better.

“Let’s just go get some sleep and put this day behind us.” I began to ascend up the stairs. My hopes upped themselves a little bit as I noticed that the upstairs was better decorated and cleaned unlike the first. Even the smell was gone! Yay!

Daring whistled from behind me. “Check out the bed!” My eyes caught contact with a bed in the corner that was well made with a large red comforter that covered the entire princess sized mattress. This was definitely going to be a good night’s sleep… “I call the wall side!” I quickly found myself glaring angrily at him. “What? I have a habit of falling out of the bed…”

“You. Are not sleeping with me.”

“Ahh… What if I take you out to dinner first?”

“Maybe… I’ll be expecting some high class apple wine with dinner though.”

“Can I do an I owe you?” A chuckled managed to escape my throat. Don’t think I’ll ever get over joking about his VERY close encounter with me.

“Yes…”

“So I can sleep in the bed?” He sat down and began to give me puppy dog eyes. With a sigh I nodded to him.

“Yeah. One condition though. Keep your armor on…”

“But… It’s so uncomfortable…”

“No buts! Keep it on or else I’m bucking you off the bed. Might even paralyze you…”

“Fine… I’d have no objections to you taking yours off though!” I rolled my eyes as he began to laugh. “I still call the wall side.”

I levitated the blanket up and allowed Daring to climb onto his side. After I was sure he was comfortable I climbed onto my side and dropped the blanket onto us. This thing was definitely more comfortable than sleeping on that hard floor back in the hospital’s basement. But I did find myself wishing I had the voice of the radio mare to aid me in my journey to sleep.

“Sweet dreams Daring… May I be out of them.”

“Sweet dreams 42… Please let me be in yours!” Another grunt of frustration escaped from my throat. To be honest, I was actually starting to find it kind of funny. I don’t think he actually wanted to do anything with me… “Oh, can you get the lights?”

“Sure…” I focused on the light switch across the room and flicked it down. Immediately we were left in the dark silence with nothing but the moonlight coming through the window to illuminate the room. Somehow I found myself wishing I was even warmer than I currently was… Something inside of me wanted contact with another pony… Unfortunately I only seemed to have one option. But was it really that bad of an option?

“Something wrong? You keep moving around over there. Having bad memories?”

“No… I just…” I sighed and swallowed my pride. “Want to be cuddling with somepony…” I closed my eyes tightly and began to hope that he would decline. But another part of me that lied deep within my mind wanted him to agree so that I would not feel so alone. That was something I had been for so long… Ever since my mother’s death. No, somewhere in the large brick wall in my memory was a small crack. I had met somepony before my capture… An intimate special somepony, but I couldn’t remember who…

“You sure?”

I sighed once more. “Yes. Just promise me you won’t try anything. Okay?”

“We’re friends… Nothing more. Besides! I get plenty of mares.” We both shared a laugh as he rolled over and made eye contact with me. As I stared into his eyes I couldn’t help but feel that I had been with somepony before I lost my memory… I remember looking into light blue eyes and knowing that true love lied within them. But was it a mare or not? Oh well… Probably doesn’t matter anyways.

His hooves wrapped gently around my body as I returned the favor. Immediately I began to feel comfort that made me forget there was unending cold and danger outside. Even though he had made jokes about advances on me, I knew very well that he wouldn’t dream of making a move. Honestly I think I was the first pony he saw as a friend.

“This is… Nice.”

“Yeah… Now get some sleep. Oh, and if I roll onto in my sleep… Please just levitate me back into position would you? I hate being woken up…”

“Can do.” Now everything felt like it was right... A warm bed; a comfortable sense of safety... And another pony that reminded me that I never was alone. No matter what happened... There would always be ponies there for me. That was a lesson I learned long ago... And one that no amnesia would ever make me forget; I would always be safe from myself.

Pretty soon I found myself falling into the grasps of a deep dreamless sleep; a smile plastered on my face as I accepted the warm embrace of it.

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My eyes slowly opened to the pleasant sight of bright sunlight coming in through the window near the bed. It took me a moment to remember where I was, but as soon as I did I smiled once more and yawned as I stood up. The slow sound of snoring caused me to turn around and look at Daring who was still sound asleep wrapped up in the blanket.

Careful not to wake him, I levitated the blanket off of him so that he wouldn’t be so tied up. The only problem? His armor was... Off. Mine was still on, which was good... But he still promised he wouldn’t take it off. A part of me wanted to be mad, but all I could do was laugh at his inability to follow a simple promise. I don’t know... For some reason I was just happy.

Knowing that my armor was probably not the best thing to be wearing around the town I decided to change. My magic pulled the door of the nearest closet open and I began to search for something appropriate to wear. After searching for a very short second I immediately spotted something that caught my eye... It was a dress. But not a normal dress.

This dress seemed to be made for someone of high class and was obviously made in pre-war times. It was made of a royal purple around the edges with an elegant red forming a pattern on the back of it. The rest was made of a very clean looking white color. The best part was that it didn’t even seem to have the slightest bit of wear and tear... Even the diamonds that outlined the dresses midsection were shiny.

I levitated the dress away from the mannequin it sat upon and put it next to me to see if it was my size. Sure enough, it was! Even though I wasn’t a big fan of clothing (as far as I knew) I squee’d in excitement. After making sure that Daring was still asleep, I took of my armor and placed the dress over my body. Within moments I had the dress on and was in front of a mirror.

This was actually the first time I was able to see myself... Strange how you can actually forget what you look like. Heh… Can’t say I looked bad. Didn’t imagine that my eyes would be pink… Already knew my coat was light blue. But where did I manage to get highlights for my hair? The dark purple went well with my lavender hair… It’s obvious what my favorite color is.

All in all the dress went well with me… Then again anything looked better than that ugly armor. I pulled up the clock on my Pip-Buck and checked the time. Hmm… Only 8:34 A.M… Oh well, maybe I was a morning person. But now what was I going to do about Daring? Maybe I should just wake him up…?

“Daring?” I walked over to the bed and began to contemplate waking him up. He did say he didn’t like being woke up, but I also couldn’t just leave him here alone… I didn’t even know where that doctor pony was! “Daring?” Still no response… Sleepy little bastard isn’t he?

“DARING?!” That got him! He immediately jumped up like a cat that had water poured all over it.

“The hell is wrong with you! Having a nice dream…” Even though he was mad, all I could do was hold back a laugh.

“I’d say.” The laugh grew harder to hold back.

“What’s so funny?” He stood up which made me finally burst out laughing. After calming myself I averted my gaze from him and spoke up.

“Must have been a really good dream!”

“What is so damn funny?” I gestured my eyes down to between his legs. “GAH! Look away!” I erupted in laughter again as he frantically tried to cover himself up. This was the most I had laughed in a while! But I did feel bad for the poor guy… I did warn him to keep his armor on! “Stop laughing!”

“Can’t… Help…” I busted out into an even bigger fit of laughing. I guess the reason I found it so funny was because of his reaction. But the truth was that I didn’t know why I was laughing. Something inside of me had been building up and that just set it off.

“It’s not my fault! Stop that!” Tears were beginning to fill my eyes as I continued laughing. It wasn’t even that anymore… Something was just making me extremely happy. It was something in this city… I felt something I cared deeply for was nearby. But what was it?

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I finally composed myself enough to stand up as he slipped on an outfit that came from of the dressers nearby. “I’m fine now.”

“You could have just said something! That was embarrassing…”

“Hey, I thought you said you could get mares easily?”

“Yeah, but… It’s different with you. You’re like a sister… If that makes sense.” A sister? Hmm… Never thought of that. We just met yesterday but he already considered me a sister… Maybe I considered him a brother? Can’t see why not… He was the closest thing to family I have.

“This is what happens when you don’t listen to me! I said keep your armor on.”

“It was so uncomfortable! Didn’t see this coming…” I smiled and walked near him and began to mess with his hair.

“It’s alright. I have amnesia! I’ll probably forget it anyways.” That managed to get a laugh out of him. It was like a happy family moment… But something still seemed like it was wrong.

“If anypony asks… I slept on the couch.”

“Anypony asks and I tell them you cuddled with that dead thing outside.” I laughed as I started my way downstairs.

“H- Hey! No you won’t!”

“And what are you going to do about it?” He stared at me blankly from the top of the stairs as I descended them.

“Good point.” He dashed down the stairs and stood near the door. “Shall we go get that cutie mark of yours looked at?”

“Sure. Lead the way… And I’m still expecting that bottle of apple wine!”

“I don’t… I don’t even think that exists! You can’t ferment an apple… Can you?”

“Sure, ask the one with amnesia!” We shared another laugh as we walked out into the frigid cold air. At least it wasn’t snowing for the first time. The day was beautiful… Nothing seemed like it could go wrong. Oh crap… Why did I think that?

“This doctor is good… And he kind of owes me a favor. That should at least get your cutie mark examined. Probably have to pay to get it fixed if he can do so.”

“Is it always this peaceful around here?” I looked around expecting to see ponies bustling around the streets heading to destinations unknown. But instead there was nothing but silence around us…

“Starts getting busy around here around 10:00. Most places don’t even open until 9:30 anyways.” I looked up to the clear sky above us. The sky was a blue much like the color of my coat… Strange to think about how the ponies in the Equestrian wasteland must feel. Do they ever feel the warmth of the sun? I couldn’t possibly imagine looking up and seeing those clouds above you 24/7…

I looked back down in front of me to see the sight of two ponies sitting on a bench simply staring into each other’s eyes. Both seemed so happy… Then again, they did live in a peaceful place like this. If there was any place to be happy… This was definitely the place. Maybe I should just give up my vendetta against the Shattered Ones? Settle down here… Make a family; live happily in peace... As much as I hated to think about it, that life wasn’t for me. Even though I enjoyed the peace, I’d never forget what the Shattered Ones did to me.

And I wouldn’t be able to ever rest until I took them out.

“42? I said we’re here!” I snapped back into reality to find we were standing outside a rather shady looking building.

“Oh sorry… Thinking about something. Are we good to go in?”

“Eeyup.” He pushed his hoof against the door and allowed me access. The entire place smelled of anesthetics and alcohol… Hated that smell.

“Hold on! Ah’m comin” My attention was diverted to behind the counter where the voice had come from. The voice had a very strange accent…

“Does… Does he have a speech impediment?”

“What?”

“His accent… It’s strange.”

“It’s just a southern accent. He came from mainland Equestria. Lots of ponies down there have southern accents. Don’t hear that accent so much up here.” We shushed ourselves as the pony walked around the corner into the lobby.

“Ah, Daring! Didn’t expect t’ see ya so soon.”

“Oh I couldn’t stay away from you and that accent.”

“And who’s this lovely number you brought?”

“A friend. That’s actually why I came in.”

“What can good ole’ Doc Thetic do for ya?”

“Go ahead and show him 42.” I showed him my cutie mark which prompted the pony to raise glasses onto his eyes and begin to examine it.

“Oh dear… That’s a terrible brandin’ job! What’d they use on you? A coat hanger? ‘Tis terrible…”

“Well that part I know… I’m the one with the branding. Can you do anything?”

“You kidding? She kidding? Darlin’… I’ve fixed worse than this with three hooves tied ‘hind my back. Ah’ll have you up and buckin’ again in no time.” I couldn’t help but smile a bit. Something inside me was incredibly happy that my cutie mark could be fixed. Don’t know what it was… But it was just important to me for some reason.

“I’ll be using that favor you owe me to pay for it.”

“Alright… Sugarcube, why don’t y’all just go back to room three and get comfortable? Ah’ll be there in just a moment.” I nodded to him and made my way back into room three. Once inside I found a hospital gown awaiting me on the gurney. Even though I was reluctant to take off my dress, (I’d grown quite attached) I took it off and replaced it with the gown. As soon as I finished I got onto the gurney and sat down.

“Alrighty then missy… Let’s get that cutie mark nice and shiny. This might be a bit painful… So you have the choice to have a small dosage of anesthetics or not.”

“How big of a dosage?”

“Enough t’ put ya’ll out lickety split for at least an hour. Ah can have the process done by then.”

“Guess I’ll take the anesthetics then.”

“Potion or needle?” My mind reminded me of the painful needle in my spine back at that facility…

“Potion.” He nodded and walked over to a nearby medicine cabinet and pulled out a purple potion.

“Here ya go. Make sure to drink it quick… ‘Taint the best taste ever.” I touched the rim of the potion to my lips and levitated it up quickly so that the contents passed over my tongue and just went down my throat. Despite my best efforts my tongue still managed to absorb some of it… Damn disgusting…

Immediately I began to feel sleepy. Obviously it was a strong anesthetic… Within sheer seconds I found myself lying down on the gurney with my eyes slowly closing.

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“That is one strange cutie mark…”

“Ya’ll can say that again… You should have seen me trying to figure it out as I was getting rid of the brandin’.”

“Would you two quit staring at my flank?” I smiled as I sat up. Still drowsy as hell though…

“You’ll be happy t’ know the removal went swimmingly. Bathroom’s ‘cross the hall. Go ahead and go take a big ole’ gander at my handiwork.” I nodded and hopped off the gurney and made my way into the mare’s bathroom. Once inside I took a place in front of the large mirror inside and began to examine my cutie mark.

It wasn’t what I was expecting…

Actually, I’m not sure what I was expecting… Just not that! On my flank was the image of a light blue book surrounded by magical aura much like my own… Dark purple. But it didn’t seem to tell me anything about who I was; what my special talent was... I guess I was expecting it to get me some answers, but instead all I got was a sore flank. Guess it wasn’t so bad… At least I had an identity of sorts.

I quickly took the hospital gown off and replaced it once more with my newly acquired dress. The bathroom door swung ajar as I exited the room to find myself being stared at by two eager ponies; their eyes asking what I thought.

“I… Love it?” What? I didn’t know how to respond… I was happy, but disappointed at the same time.

“That’s good. Thanks doc.”

“Don’t mention it. Now ya’ll come back if you need any more burns taken care of. Oh and darlin’?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let anypony else brand that nice flank with no coat hanger, ya hear?”

“Don’t plan on it.”

“Good. Now scoot. I have appointments to take care of.” He walked to the front door of the building and held it open to allow us exit from the building.

“You alright 42? You seem a bit upset.” I sighed.

“Guess I was just hoping that my cutie mark would have told me a bit about myself. But now al it gave me is more questions than answers…”

“Hey.” Daring stopped and placed his hoof on my back and pulled my into a hug. “We’ll find out who you are.”

“It’s a big wall to knock down…” Whoops… Didn’t mean to think that out loud!

“What was that?”

“Uhh… Nothing. Just thinking out loud.”

“Want to get some breakfast? I know a place that makes a mean salad…” My stomach growled to remind me that I hadn’t eaten for Celestia knows how long…

“That sounds like paradise.” Our hooves began to lead us down the street in a half trot, half gallop. We would have made it to our destination had it not been for one little thing…

“Violet?” I looked around to see who was yelling. Within seconds I spotted a pink mare with a light purple mane yelling in my general direction. I turned around to see if there was a pony behind us. Nope.

“Violet?” The pony began to walk towards me. Maybe she was mistaking me for someone else?

“Oh sweet Celestia! It is you!” My eyes widened as the mare burst into a full blown sprint towards me. I didn’t even have time to yell as she tackled me to the ground and placed her mouth against mine in a passionate kiss.

“Holy right hoof of Celestia!” The mare pulled her mouth away from mine as Daring yelled out. Taking my chance, I spoke up to the pony that still had me pinned tightly to the ground.

“Can I help you?!” The pony raised one eye and turned back to me.

“You’ve been missing for over two weeks! I was getting worried…”

“Once again… Can I help you? Also… You’re kind of in my personal space. Really in my personal space!” The pony finally got off of me and looked at me with pain in her eyes.

“Don’t you recognize me?” I began to search my shattered memory for her… Nope, nothing.

“I’m sorry… But no.”

“Violet…”

“Is that my name? How do you know me?” She continued to have the same confused and shocked expression on her face. Does she really know who I am? And what the actual hell was up with the kiss…?

“What’s wrong with you?”

“She’s got amnesia…” She looked at Daring with horror plastered on her face as he chimed in.

“Amnesia… Oh dear royal Princess Sisters… You… Really don’t recognize me?”

“I’m sorry… But no.”

“I’m you’re Special Somepony…”

I and Daring’s jaws both dropped as she said that. Daring’s more than mine, but still… Well at least I now knew two things…

Violet Glowingsnow was my name... And I was into mares!

Footnote: Level Up!

Perk Taken: Aura of hope - You stand out amongst ponies because of your unique access to magic. Because of this you are expected much more of. These expectation grant you +10 your magic, but -5 to small guns.

Author's Note

Well here it is... The first chapter of what I'm sure is going to be a incredible journey for me as a writer! Please let me know if you notice any canon errors so that I might fix them.

If you prefer it, there is a google docs version.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y9B6wUdNP6rMeTjhA_IaBMKL6RdQyQrRTfqJD4JO69s/edit

If the link doesn't work just let me know and I'll correct the issue. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment!