Fallout Equestria: Shattered Gleam

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Chapter 2 – Beginning of the End
“It’s the end of the world… All over again.”

Placidity...

Placidity Heartstone. My special somepony... How could I ever have forgotten her? We had met about a year ago...

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Holy shining horn of Celestia its cold out here... I really have to learn to dress warmer! The snow fell like a blanket lain upon the lands from the loving embrace of Mother Nature around me as I trekked my way through towards a destination unknown.

To be honest? I had no idea why I was walking around the wastes with no destination. That usually spells out immediate death for ponies out here… But like always, I didn’t care for myself. Hell… Didn’t even fear death anymore. What was there to fear? Besides… Nopony would miss me.

So I walked. The time to clear my head of the anger was during these walks… If I didn’t control the anger… I feared I might hurt somepony. My anger at the death of my mother had boiled up in me for so long… Never venting it was a bad idea, because it eventually turned into a bubbling cauldron that gave me thoughts of harm to innocent ponies. If I did that then I’d be no better than the Shattered Ones…

Anger slowly waning, I looked up from the ground to gaze upon the wasteland before me. Even though it was summer the snow still fell occasionally, but it was nowhere near as bad as the rest of the seasons. There were even places that I was able to see the ruined earth below the snow, but they were few and far between.

I came to a halt upon hearing snow crunching somewhere behind me. Knowing that it wasn’t a pony looking for direction, I levitated my gun out from its holster and turned around. Well… Shit. Deathtrices… Mutates Cockatrice assholes! I didn’t fear death, but I did fear being ripped apart by angry mutated beasts…

“Celestia fuck me with her horn!” Vulgar as that may be, that would probably be more pleasant than dealing with a Deathtrice… They were mean little bastards! And here I was… Face to face with one; the paralysis from its stare slowly freezing every muscle in my body. Pretty soon my mind would lose all ability to focus… I had to work fast. The sights lined up over the Deathtrice’s head, I prepared to take the shot.

*BANG*

The gunshot cracked against the silent of the wasteland around me, shattering the peace in the air. The whole world went in slow motion to me as I realized that my one shot had missed… And as the gun fell to the ground; my magic no longer surrounding it.

I was completely paralyzed…

A low growl echoed out from the Deathtrice’s throat as it neared me with hunger in its eyes. But no… It knew it had me trapped and it was going to rub it in. Death was near for me… And I suppose I was alright with that. Somewhere I could swear I heard my mom and dad both calling out for me to join them… Somehow I felt my mouth curl into a gentle smile as I realized that soon I would be where I was happy…

I started back at the Deathtrice with the smile still on my face. No way in hell I’d give it the satisfaction of making me scared… It was doing me a favor so why wouldn’t I be smiling? The only part I didn’t look forward to was the ripping of my flesh and the pain… Oh well, wouldn’t last too long.

The slightest twinge of fear arose in me as the Deathtrice raised its sharp claw into the air with intent to take a limb from me. This was it… Mom… Dad… I’m coming home.

“Oh no you don’t!” The voice sounded out from somewhere behind me, taking the Deathtrice –and me- by surprise. What in the world was another pony doing out here? Just another needless death to save my sorry hide… Only very few ponies have walked away to tell the tale of fighting a Deathtrice…

Sadness changed to anticipation then to confusion as I felt movement return to my body… The Deathtrice had somehow lost focus… But how? It was still staring right at me! Or at least it had been. Now… It was slowly backing away from me? Was that… Fear in its eyes? What the hell was it scared of?!

The Deathtrice continued to back away until it was at least five ponies away from me. That was about the time it simply turned around and flew away like it had just seen a dragon. I was actually a little afraid to turn around…

“Are you alright?” Hesitantly, I turned around to see what held the kind voice behind me. Whoa! Didn’t expect that! Not a dragon… A mare?! With no weapon?! And she made a Deathtrice run away?! How could anything that… Beautifully cute make something run away in fear?

“Y- Yeah… Thanks.” Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of light blue I had ever seen… Everything around me reflected off them perfectly as if they were made of glass. It took her giggling to make me realize that my jaw was practically on the ground.

“Glad to hear it! You should be more careful out here…” Her voice was sweet and gentle… Just hearing it made me feel warm inside. Strange… I felt as if I had butterflies flying around in my stomach…

The howling of the wind was all that was audible as I stared her in her eyes. The only movement was her lavender mane flowing gently in the wind. It seemed like hours that I stared into her eyes when in fact it had only been a few seconds.

“You’re beautiful…” Well crap… Way to scare her off Violet! Real good job! Just blurt out to the beautiful mare that you like her. She probably thought I was a freak…

“I was about to say the same thing.” She’s probably going to run away- Wait wah? Did… Did she just call me beautiful? I mean, I’m not the worst looking mare ever… But beautiful? I could feel heat beginning to grow behind my ears… No doubt I was redder than a ripe apple. Quick Violet! Change the topic! Change it!

“How did you…”

“Make the Deathtrice run? Simple! I used the stare!”

“The what?”

“It’s a trick that’s been passed down in my family for a few generations… I’m able to strike fear into any animal once I do it. The only problem? Can’t control it… Come to think of it, it’s pretty lucky that I was able to do it just now.”

“Uh… I’m Violet… Violet Glowingsnow.” GAH! Stupid! Think before you speak Violet… Wait, did she just giggle?

“Placidity Heartstone.” Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! Okay, calm down Violet… She just told you her name. Don’t freak out. Quick, think of something witty!

“I really like your mane.” Really… THAT was the best I could come up with? No wonder I’m alone…

“Matches your eyes…” She slowly neared me; our eyes never losing connection with each other. Within seconds she was practically hugging me. “Those beautiful eyes.” Before I even had time to respond she placed her mouth against mine in a kiss.

All I could do was stare wide eyed at her now closed eyes as my mind tried to put together what was happening. Hey stupid! You’re being kissed… Don’t just stand there like a filly that just saw its first ghoul!

The feeling in my stomach slowly faded away as I closed my eyes and embraced in the kiss that was so graciously given to me. To think that just a few moments ago I was ready to die… Now I just wanted to live on so this could happen every day. Never thought it would happen to me… But I was in love!

I finally had a reason to live.

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“Placidity?” I stared into her eyes and saw the very scene that had just played in my head… Of course that was just a figment of my imagination, but… I just wanted a reason to look into those eyes that I loved so.

“You remember me? Oh thank Celestia!”

“Can you… Can you two please kiss again?” I knew Daring was kidding… Well actually, he might not be kidding. Either way, the only thing I did was give him a playful smack upside the head with my hoof.

“Calm yourself before you have another incident.” His face reddened as he turned away from us.

“You said you wouldn’t mention that! I’m going to go get a table reserved for three…” He galloped off to the restaurant, leaving me with Placidity.

“I’m so happy you’re okay… When I heard that you never made it here…” Tears began to form in her eyes. Immediately I began to feel a sense of guilt…

“I’m sorry…” Before I could react, she jumped onto my and hugged me as if I was the last pony alive on the earth. Tears began trickle down my back as she cried on me.

“I waited each and every day hoping that you walk through that gate… I never gave up hope that you would come. But when I heard about all the unicorns being abducted… I’m just so glad you’re here!” I did nothing but allow her to just hug me for what seemed like hours… I never meant to make her worry.

“I’ll always be there for you. No crazy unicorn abducting earth ponies are going to stop me.” With a sniffle she released herself from the hug and looked down at the ground.

“So… It’s true? You were right… They were looking for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That was the whole reason you left… You told me that the ponies that killed your parents were still looking for you. You left to go get evidence that they were going to take drastic measures to get hold of you… The last I heard was that you were on your way back to meet with the head of Shattered Gleam.”

“They… They were the ones who killed my parents?” Sadness turned to uncontrollable anger as I realized that I had been right in their base of operations… I could have gotten revenge right then and there! Dammit!

“Uhm… Violet?” Placidity slowly began to back away from me with fear in her eyes. But all I could see was that damned earth pony standing over me with a needle… I knew I wouldn’t hurt her. I had enough control to not do so. “Your eyes…” What was she talking about?

“WHAT?!” Did I just scream? That didn’t even seem like my voice… It was full of anger that I had never directed towards Placidity. Even though she seemed to be terrified out of her mind, she still had enough about her to reach into her pocket and pull out a small portable mirror. When she raised it up at me… Oh Celestia…

My eyes were black as the night and my horn was exhibiting a pitch black aura around it. It didn’t take memory to know what was happening… That was dark magic. Only a very select number of unicorns are able to use black magic… Even fewer are able to use it without having their hearts turned evil as well.

I began to try with all my might to calm myself… If I didn’t… No, I didn’t want to think about what I might do. I wasn’t myself right now! It was as if I was in a trance… Then in just a instant all I could feel was my hooves hitting the ground. I had somehow managed to levitate myself into the air…

“Violet? What… Just happened?” I couldn’t bring myself to look at her… I had just nearly let my anger at the Shattered Ones hurt her… I knew she’d forgive me. But I couldn’t forgive myself.

“I… Don’t know.” That… Was only half the truth. There had always been a reason that I was good with magic… It was in my blood. The amnesia could never wipe my magical knowledge. But as to why I was so good with magic, I wasn’t entirely sure yet. That part of my memory was still shrouded over by the wall of memory.

“Are you alright?” Actually… I don’t know how I felt.

“I’m fine… Are you alright? I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright Violet… Come on, your friend is probably waiting for us.” I looked up from the ground to see she was smiling with that very smile I fell in love with. And just like that the whole ordeal seemed like nothing.

“Can you tell me anything about me...”

“I really wish I could... All I know is very basic stuff. You were always kind of mysterious about your past... And I always loved that about you.”

“Well what can you tell me?”

“Not much I’m afraid... You only told me one thing about your parents, and that was about how they were murdered by a mysterious organization you won’t stop chasing... Other than that, I think you know everything else.”

“What... What type of pony am I? By that I mean what personality have I always had?”

“Well besides your craziness behind closed doors...” My eyes immediately widened and my face began to burn despite the frigid air. Pretty sure my face was smoking... “You always were mysterious... You seemed kind hearted and always helped those in need... But you never really seemed to care for yourself... And that organization.”

“Damn...”

“Oh, and you have a foul mouth! Can’t count how many times you’ve said ‘fuck’ since we met...”

“Sorry. Don’t mean to be a foul mouth... The words just come out.”

“It’s fine... Most of the times you’ve said it were always in... Good ways.” I felt myself blushing once more as she opened the door to the restaurant. Am I really that much of a... Lover?

“Good evening. Do you have reservations?” Wait... Places have reservations in this town? This town truly was pretty much the perfect place... Wouldn’t be long until this place was pretty much the perfect example of pre-war life.

“We’re here with... What was your friends name?”

“Daring Dash.”

“Ahh yes... You are seated at table 3.” As we made our way to the table, a question popped into my mind.

“Is the whole town this peaceful? It just seems so out of place compared to the wastes...”

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to... But the head honchos made sure that this place was a shining beacon amongst the wastes.” We took our seat next to Daring, who was still looking at the two of us as as if in a daze.

“Hello? Equestria to Daring!” The brown pony shook his head and looked forward.

“Sorry. Just thinking...” I grinned and turned to Placidity.

“I’m going to have so much fun torturing him with this...” We both giggled like school girls as Daring gave us a unamused look.

“Maybe we could invite him into my house later and let him watch...” Wait... Watch what? AH! What do I do? What do I say?! Quick 42- er, Violet!

“Yeah I’m not feeling so good... I recently got shot, so... Yeah...” The only thing that made the situation worthwhile was the look on Daring's face... Priceless. It was as if he had seen a ghost, but at the same time saw thirty mares lined up and ready for him. Actually, I’m pretty sure he was in a fantasy right about now...

“Don’t worry... Considering the circumstances we can hold off for awhile... Even though I haven’t seen you for three weeks.” I was fine with the kissing and whatnot... But just the thought of actually doing anything beyond that... Something about it just didn’t sit right. Unfortunately, I knew I would eventually have to face up to it.

“Can... We just order? I haven’t eaten in... Well actually I haven’t eaten since before I was captured.”

“Yeah... As soon as the waiter comes to the table!” I jumped up a little as I felt Placidity’s hoof land between my legs. Was she... She was playing hoofsie! Was she always this eagar? Maybe it was just the fact that we’d not seen each other for so long... More importantly, was I ever that eagar?

“Uh... Placidity?” I leaned into her side of the table and lowered my voice to a mere whisper. “Maybe not the best place to be doing that?” She looked at me with a hurt expression.

“Really? Usually you’d want to do much more than that right here on the table...” My eyes widened as my jaw dropped. Was I really like that? We both looked towards Daring as we heard a groan come from him.

“Please... Stop... Can’t take the... Sexiness.” He looked as if he was about to pass out from pleasure. For his sake, I hoped we didn’t have to change tables...

“Ehem... Can I take your order?” We all turned and looked at the rather impatient looking waiter standing at the edge of the table.

“I’ll take a salad with a Sparkle-Cola please.” Placidity smiled at the uncaring waiter as she made her order. Guess I was ordering the same...

“The same, thanks.”

“Whatever your special is... And an Apple Whiskey.”

“Very good then. Anything else for you?”

“No thank you.” The waiter gave us a nod before making his way back to the rather unclean looking kitchen. Guess I didn’t have room to complain...

“So, is the food here any good?” Both turned to me and tried to speak. Daring was kind enough to allow Placidity to speak.

“Better than a lot of places. The Shattered Gleam as largely been able to preserve the vegetarian aspect that ponies lived by in pre-war days. I hear that some ponies eat other ponies down in the mainland...” I cringed at the thought of biting into the flesh of a fellow equine... Just the thought of it made me want to puke what little my stomach had out.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Placidity turned and directed her attention to Daring.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Placidity Heartstone.” She reached her hoof up to Daring who gratefully placed his hoof against hers and shook it.

“Daring Dash, adventure extraordinaire.” I couldn’t help but facehoof at that comment.

“So, how’d you two meet? I was actually quite surprised to see you were with her.” She turned to me. “You never were one to make friends.”

“Well it’s a long story of bravery and-”

“She saved you didn’t she?” He raised his hoof in protest, then opened his mouth in a sigh.

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but laugh a bit much to his displeasure.

“He had a slight run in with some slavers. And by run in, I mean he tried to get me.” Placidity’s expression turned to anger as I revealed his past career. “Don’t worry. I helped him get away from that life. Turns out he was just doing it in fear of being enslaved himself.”

“I see... Well good to know that the amnesia hasn’t lowered your combat prowess.” We all turned to the waiter as he cleared his throat, indicating that our meal was there.

“Two salads for the mares, and one apple pie for the gentleman. You’re drinks will be by momentarily.”

“Apple pie? Really? Isn’t that a desert?”

“Nothing is a desert anymore! Food is food. Even if it is strange apple substitution... Hasn’t been an actual apple seen around these parts for years. Can’t complain though! From what I’ve had in the mainland, this is pretty close.”

“You’ve been to the mainland?” Placidity’s anger at him dissolved into something less. Something that showed she was intrigued.

“Yeah, about... Ten times.” I looked down at the green...Ish leaves before me. I was honestly hungry enough to eat one of those dead trees outside, but I couldn’t help but stare at the food.

“What is this anyways?”

“A indigenous plant that thrives in the snow. Apparently the owners of this place found seeds for the plant after it went extinct. Been making salads out of it for as long as anyone can remember.” I continued to eyeball it with suspicion. Oh well, who was I to complain about food? Not wanting to waste another second, I bit into it. Oh sweet luscious mane of Luna, that is delicious! I happily continued to scarf down the food as Daring and Placidity continued their conversation.

“So, what’s it like down there? I’ve always heard that everything is radiated and anything that attempts to live there turns into a mutated beast.”

“Not quite, but not far off either.” I chewed one of the scrumptious leaves as I eavesdropped on their chat. “Radiation is a problem down there, but not as big of a one as most ponies assume.”

“So ponies don’t turn into horribly mutated creatures?”

“Well... Some do turn into Ghouls. But no, nothing terrible and monstrous.”

“And a Ghoul is...?”

“Oh yeah... Pretty much all it is, is a pony without skin due to radiation. Well it has skin, but most is rotted off. They also gain incredibly life expectancies. I even met one once that was alive during the Great War. Unfortunately...”

“What?”

“That poor ghoul... It’s been haunting me that I wasn’t able to do anything... It was that day that I realized how evil slavers were.”

“What happened?”

“It was about a year ago... Me and Ashton as well as a couple of others were making a important slaver delivery to the mainland HQ; a place called Old Appleloosa. Well we had to rest, so Ashton sent me to find a suitable place. Luckily I knew of an old town nearby our location called Ponyville. Most of the time it was a raider hub, so I was prepared to have to make a deal with them.

“I entered the town hoping to find a suitable place to rest in. Eventually I found a nice enough placed called the Carousel Boutique. Unfortunately, it was basically a raider nesting ground like I had expected. Rather than have to deal with a fight, I decided to use my slaver credentials to gain their trust. you see, they didn’t have many brains. But they knew very well that attacking slavers was a good way to get killed...

“I neared the building and bribed them to let us stay the night. Knowing that I was a slaver, they did as asked. Once the building was secured I went back and told Ashton that we had a place to rest. All the slavers quickly made their ways to the now abandoned building... Except me. I hated my life as a slaver... But I wasn’t able to get out. Ashton would hunt me down the second he found out that I skipped. So I was in for life. But that didn’t stop me from leaving every once in awhile and forgetting about that life. And that’s what I did that night...

“I had been walking around the outskirts of the small town for about thirty minutes when I saw something I hadn’t expected to. On a hill nearby was a ghoul looking over the town of Ponyville. I instantly knew that this ghoul wasn’t a raider, because raiders saw them as freaks. I assumed that she was spying on the raiders for the town that was nearby.

“Anyways, I walked up the hill in hopes of starting a conversation... Yes, I know that’s stupid, but... Do you know how horrible it is to always be around ponies that only talk about their days worth of gathering merchandise? Sorry, ponies... Now what was I saying... Oh yeah, I neared her and opened my mouth to introduce myself. Obviously I scared her, but not enough to make her attack me. After telling her that I wasn’t there to attack her, she told me about how she had managed to somehow survive the Mega-spells when they launched... At the cost of her appearance and life as she knew it.”

“Ehem... Sorry to interrupt your story, but here are your drinks.” The waiter served us our drinks. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Actually, could I get seconds?”

“Certainly madam. Anything else?”

“No thank you.”

“Very good.” The waiter grabbed my plate and returned to the kitchen to grab more of the amazing salad.

“As I was saying...” He stopped and took a giant chug of his apple whiskey. “We talked about the war and other stuff like that. She told me how being a ghoul was, but through the whole time I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I was a slaver... Not in fear of her attacking me, but in fear of scaring off the one friend I had made. And it’s my fault that she...”

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” I grabbed my second plate of food as I chimed in.

“No, it’s best that I get this off my chest...” He chugged another large section of his drink. Obviously this story was hard on him. “It hadn’t even occurred to me that I had been gone for two hours... And that made Ashton come looking.”

“No...” Placidity seemed to be taking the story as hard as Daring was.

“Yeah... He found us on the hill talking. Before she even knew what was happening, he already had her in his sights. I still remember her off focus eyes as she realized that I was a slaver... They were filled with both anger and betrayal... That’s when I knew I had to make a stand against Ashton, even if it meant that I would be enslaved or killed.

“But... I just didn’t have the guts to do it. I simply stood by and watched as she screamed for help... Until Ashton got tired of the screaming. I still... Still remember him pulling out his knife as he held her tongue... And with a single swipe it fell to the ground. That was when I finally snapped. Despite my fear, that single act was enough to draw enough anger for me to knock Ashton out of the way long enough for that poor ghoul to get away. Never saw or heard from her again after that...”

“I’m sorry... I don’t know what to say.”

“You know... In my dreams... I still see those gold off focus eyes staring at me with betrayal; I still see her running down that hill with Ashton near me on the ground. And each time I remember that I was too weak to save her...” He quickly downed the rest of the apple whiskey and looked down at the table that still held his uneaten pie. “It feels good to finally say something to somepony though. Thanks for listening.”

“Hey, what are friends for? Now, you gonna eat that pie, or...”

“Yeah, keep your grubby hooves of my pie!” We all three laughed. I quickly realized that I was thirsty, so I popped the cap off my drink and chugged its carroty goodness. How in the world did they make that taste like carrots? How?! Ah the wonders of the pre-war world...

“So, who is this Ashton anyways? That’s a rather strange name...”

“It’s not his real name... That’s a nickname he earned when he razed an entire town to ashes in search of an escaped slave. It’s derived from ash town, which is the name of the town nowadays. His real name is Flak. Nopony knows his last name though.”

“Think he’d come here looking for us?”

“No, he may be evil, but that doesn’t make him an idiot. He know more than anyone that he’d be shot down before he even had time to eyeball us. No, he’ll most likely send some new slavers looking to make a name for themselves... And once that fails, he’ll wait for us to leave and them come get us his self. Oh, and don’t think that your threat scared him. I’ve seen him go against a platoon of gryphon mercenaries and walk out none the worse for wear.”

“So I take it that I got a lucky shot?”

“Very lucky. Next time we meet, he won’t hesitate for even a second.”

“Neither will I.”

“I love it when you talk like that!” We both looked at Placidity. “What? So I have a weak spot for tough mares...”

“Anyways... We should be on the lookout for him... And anypony that is eyeing us suspiciously.”

“Can do...” I finished off my bottle of Sparkle-Cola as Daring took his last bite of pie. “Everypony finished?”

“Stuffed. Don’t you two worry ‘bout the bill. This one’s on me.” Placidity pulled a large bag filled to the brim with caps from her jacket and placed it on the table. Within seconds the waiter appeared with a small slip of paper.

“Here’s your bill.” Placidity took the bill and looked at it, then dropped out around 50 caps on the table and scooted them to the waiter. “Thank you madam. Enjoy your afternoon.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Well I know what I have to do... I came here for a reason, and even though I don’t have that reason anymore, I need to see the heads of this place.”

“They probably won’t take kindly to you showing up without info... Do you remember at all what you found out when you left?” Daring stood from the table as Placidity asked the question.

“I’m going to go find some company if you know what I mean... Where should we meet up?”

“Violet and I are going to stop by my place to see if I can help her remember anything. Go ahead and just drop in anytime. It’s house number 21 in sector 16.”

“Wait... Sector 16? As in mansion and upper class sector?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Sweet Luna you and 42- er, Violet are marefriends and you’re rich? I am so happy I met Violet!”

“Just go before I paralyze you.”

“Okay, okay... No need to pull the paralyze card.” Daring turned away and exited the restaurant following my threat. Now it was just me and Placidity, who no doubt would try and make a move...

“So, do you remember anything about what you found out?”

“I... No. I do vaguely remember a facility somewhere... I think on the edge of the Crystal Mountains maybe?”

“Good, do you remember anything about what was in that facility?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“Hmm... Oh, I know! Come on... I’m going to draw you a hot bath. You need one anyways...” Well I guess I can’t complain about a bath... My coat had definitely seen better days.

“That sounds nice. Lead the way.” Placidity and I stood up and exited the restaurant into the frigid air. At least it wasn’t snowing...

“So, how’d you manage to get into the rich residential sector?”

“Remember? You bought the house for me using all the caps you collected traveling around. Costed about... 30,000 caps if I recall? It was the best gift anypony had ever gotten me.” 30,000 caps?! How in the world did I ever manage to get that much money? No way I got it by just exploring...

“I ever say where I got all those caps?”

“No, just that you saved up while exploring. Why?”

“Nothing.” We stopped in front a large house that was three stories tall and appeared to have at least 4 rooms on each floor. “How big is this place?”

“Three bedrooms... Two bathrooms, and a kitchen complete with dining room on the first and third floor. Oh, and the third floor is the master bedroom that we converted to our entertainment room.” Well, that worries me. What exactly did we consider entertainment? Guess I was going to find out...

“Do I live here?”

“Well of course! I didn't take the house from you then say sayonara.”

“And I suppose we share a room.”

“You guessed it! The master bedroom is both our bedroom and out entertainment room.”

“I’m going to regret this... But what entertainment?”

“It’s nothing like that... Just a library and a large bay window so that we can watch outside. And of course you have that magical study of yours.”

“I have a magical study?”

“Oh yeah, biggest one I’ve ever seen. Takes up half the bedroom... It’s got more books than our library has and it has that creepy collection of orbs in it... I think you called them memory orbs?”

“What’s a memory orb?”

“I have no idea... Some strange Unicorn thing. All I know is that you’ve constantly placed your horn against it and simply zoned out of everything.”

“Hmm... I think I might have a look at these... After the bath. I probably haven’t bathed in a month...”

“You’ll need more than one bath then...” She opened the door and allowed me entrance to the well lit room. The windows were all open allowing brilliant sunlight in.

“This place is nice!”

“Yep... These houses are actually pre-war. Since the Frozen Wastes mostly didn’t suffer any bombs, the city stayed mostly intact. Of course the houses weren’t in the best of condition, but the leaders fixed them up to pre-war standards. And this was the result.”

“I could stay here and never leave!”

“That can be arranged... But I know you’re place it out there, in the wastes... And I’m okay with that. I know you won’t be able to rest until you get revenge.”

“I just wish I knew who exactly I wanted revenge against... At least now I have a lead. As soon as I get a chance, I’m going back to that facility I escaped from to get some answers.”

“Just be careful... For me?”

“For us.” We embraced in another hug before she gestured up the stairs.

“Alright, no more hugs until you take a bath... You smell like something dead.” We both laughed as she led me up the stairs and into a small bathroom complete with a shower.

“Forget the bath... Does that shower work?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t mention that why?”

“You have a fear of showers.”

“Well not anymore!” I happily stripped off the dress and hopped into the shower. “No peeking!” I closed the curtain and happily wrapped my magic around the faucet and turned it on. After adjusting it to a suitable temperature, I sighed and allowed the warm water to wash the day away from my body. It seemed like I just stood there for about thirty minutes just letting the water wash over me. Eventually I stepped out of the shower and levitate a towel and began to dry myself off.

Once I was nice and dry I levitated the dress up and began to put it back on before deciding against it. I guess I could go without clothes for a tiny bit... What harm could it do? I continued to levitate the dress by my side as I exited the bathroom.

“Placidity?”

“Yeah?” Placidity descended the stairs. My eyes widened as I noticed she neither was wearing anything. Without the clothing on, she looked even more beautiful. Guess it was because her brilliant pink coat was fully viewable. I quickly found myself staring at her cutie mark. It was an image of three flowers, one blue, two yellow.

“What do I do with this?” I shook the dress to show what I was talking about.

“I usually wash stuff in the tub every night. Just do what you always did and leave it anywhere.” I shrugged and tossed the dress onto the back of a chair nearby.

“Hope you don’t mind me going without clothing for a tiny bit.”

“You kidding? If it wasn’t for the snow you’d probably never wear anything... I was surprised to see you in a dress. Normally you wouldn’t be caught in anything prettier than your armor. I must say it’s a pleasant surprise.”

“So, where is this magic study of mine?” She sighed. I could tell that she wanted me to spend some time with her. “I’m sorry, but maybe those orbs have something about my past on them.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t be too long, okay?” She led me up a second flight of stairs and into a large open room. My mouth agape, I walked around the room that had a large double bed and a giant bookshelf filled to the brim with literature.

“How did we get all this stuff?!”

“You found it in your travels. Well the bed I had custom made, but you found everything else. All the small stuff I mean.”

“And my study is where?” She pointed to a makeshift wall across from the stairs. “I don’t like going in there... You just don’t seem yourself when you are busy doing stuff in there.”

“Do you want me to worry about it later?”

“No, go ahead. I’m going to take a bath myself.”

“Okay.” As she walked down the stairs, I placed my hoof against the makeshift door and pushed. It opened to reveal a large office like room, each and every wall holding a filled bookshelf. Strangely I immediately recognized all of them... Then I saw the viewing table. It was just a simple chair, but it had a large filing cabinet near it that was labeled with a bunch of different strange labels.

I quickly read through all the labels and decided on the one labeled ‘The beginning’. I started to levitate the orb out with my magic before stopping. Something told me to not even touch it with magic until I was sitting down. Taking a seat, I held the orb carefully in my hooves. It didn’t seem special at all, just a normal orb. But I knew it wasn’t... Once I was sure that I would be fine, I took a deep breath and wrapped my magic around the orb.

Immediately I felt the sense of being drug out of the world and into... Something else. I couldn’t describe the feeling, but I began to see the world around me disappear and another world slowly appear in front of me.

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o

My vision slowly focused into view to reveal that I was in a small hut somewhere. I immediately noticed that I had no control over my hooves. It also felt as if I was viewing this as an outside source. But yet I felt everything as if I was there… All thought’s came to a close as I heard a voice I’d not heard in a long time...

“Violet?”

“Yeah mom?” I turned around from the makeshift stove and looked into the living room.

“Your father will be here in a moment.”

“He’s finally coming back?!” Excitement unlike any I had felt before entered my body as I darted happily into the living room to see my mother standing by a wall trying to put books on a shelf.

“Calm down Violet. He’s probably going to want to rest after traveling such a large distance.”

“Sorry mom.”

“It’s fine.” My head snapped to the right as the sound of a door opening registered into my mind.

“DAD!” The excitement continued to boil like the water of a cauldron until it was ready to overflow. Before my father could even react, I had already jumped on him.

“Whoa! Happy to see you to Vi.” I hopped off of him after a prolonged hug. “You’ve grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you.”

“I’ve also gotten better in magic! I can even shoot a bolt of magic now.”

“Good, you’ll need that magic to make a good life for yourself. The unicorn population is at an all-time low... Probably saw about thirty of them total during my tour.”

“Violet, why don’t you go to your room for a moment?”

“Okay Mom.” I turned 180 degrees and cantered happily into my room. Inside was a large shelf filled completely with books all on the subject of magic, half of which I hadn’t even had a chance to read. Besides the bookshelf, my room was annoyingly empty. The only other notable thing was a Ministry of Magic poster. One of which I had loved, since Twilight Sparkle was my biggest idle.

My aura enveloped around a nearby book and brought it close to me. After insuring it was the correct one, I plopped down on my favorite chair and began reading up on the subject of a new spell. This particular one was about paralysis, a forbidden spell that was only used by the Royal Guard to take control of crazed ponies back in the Pre-War days. During the war it had also been used to capture Zebra’s alive to gain information.

A yawn I was halfway through was immediately interrupted by an explosion from the living room accompanied by searing heat that singed a few hairs on my coat, as well as my mane… Quickly, I stood and shook myself off before checking myself for injuries. Luckily I seemed to be fine. My eyes widened as I realized that my parents were in the living room!

“Mom?! Dad?!” I cautiously peeked around the corner to see my father helping my mother up. Fortunately neither seemed to be injured. But what had just happened?

“Violet? Are you alright?”

“Yeah. What happened?”

“I don’t know… Stay here, I’m going to check it out.”

“Be careful…” Me and my mom stood side by side as my dad pulled his favorite handgun out and neared the door. He turned to me, which prompted a nod from me. Slowly I levitated the door (Or rather what remained of the door) open enough for him to peek out.

“Do you see anything?”

“Quick, get the medical supplies!”

“Why? What is it?”

“A destroyed carriage. Looks like one of the Warmth-Bringers.”

“On it!” I dashed into the medical room and grabbed what supplies we had. It wasn’t much, but should be enough to help anypony that was injured. “Here.” I levitated the small box to my father, who promptly grabbed it and opened the door. Being the curious filly that I was, I neared the now nonexistent window and peered outside.

Sure enough, there was a carriage which had most likely seen better days. The whole thing looked as if it had been mauled by a Radigator then blown up by angry Marauders. All in all, it didn’t look like it would be moving again anytime soon.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah… But there isn’t any sign of anything living anywhere. It looks like this thing fell from the sky or something. And where are the wheels?” He gestured for us to come outside. Luckily it was summer time, so the cold wasn’t as bad. There were even patches around that had brown earth showing. But my focus was on the carriage.

“Is this one of yours?” My father turned to my mother and shrugged.

“Maybe, but this one doesn’t have any wheels. Carting around supplies on a carriage without wheels… That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“I know this sounds silly, but could someone have taken them?”

“Well normally yes… But not on this one. It doesn’t look like this carriage was even designed with them…”

“Hey dad, check this out.” I was levitating the ‘hood’ of the carriage open. Inside was a motor of sorts that looked to be fried beyond repair.

“Well, that’s definitely different. All of our carriages are just pony powered… I didn’t even know that these types of carriages even existed. But that still doesn’t explain the lack of wheels.” We all continued to stare at the strange carriage before us.

“Wait, if you said there is no driver, then could this thing be automated transport of some kind? Maybe it’s run on magic?” He turned to me and shrugged once more.

“If it is, I never heard of anything like it.”

“Was it carrying anything?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. There are some chests in the back, but they’re all locked.”

“I got it dad! I’ve wanted to try this spell for a while anyways…” I trotted to the back of the carriage and looked at the various lockboxes. Knowing that I was a novice in this spell, I started with the smallest box which most likely had a cheap lock. Luckily this spell didn’t require focus as much as other spells, but instead just needed time. A mental image of the inside of the lock appeared in my mind as I closed my eyes.

That image of the lock slowly began to get surrounded by my magic. I began to apply pressure to the mechanism that held the chest shut. I began to feel it succumbing to the magic, and with a crack, the mechanism broke off and turned to dust.

“I think that did it…” I levitated the chest opened to reveal a bunch of strange looking weapons.

“Energy weapons?! You two, get in the house.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“A cart full of Energy weapons with no ponies anywhere near it? Something is going on here… Get in the house. If you hear anything, run.”

“What about you?”

“I can’t allow weapons to fall into the hands of anypony dangerous. I’m going to guard this…”

“Ahh… There’s the cart…” We all turned to see about twenty Earth ponies standing before us. The one in the front was wearing some sort of metal armor that emitted a low humming noise.

“Identify yourselves.” My father held his hoof in front of me and my mother in an attempt to tell us to leave.

“Names are for friends… So I don’t need one. You can just call us the Shattered Ones… But I do know that you have something we want.”

“I’m not giving you anything. Now what is up with this cart, and why do you need it?”

“I suppose there is no harm in telling you… You won’t be able to stop us anyways. That cart is property of the Enclave. They usually stay away from the ground, and even more away from the Frozen Wastes. But when we hacked a terminal and sent a distress signal to a known base far above us… Well they couldn’t refuse. It was a brilliant plan really…”

“Enclave? Stay away from the ground? Obviously you’re quite mad.”

“Typical Wastelander… Know nothing of the Enclave and Pegasi.”

“I don’t care about your strange organizations or… Pegasi, whatever the buck that is. Tell me why this cart is on my front lawn and what you want.”

“Humph… Anyways, we managed to crash land an Enclave Carriage for our purposes. Those damn cloud huggers can live without one carriage… After crashing the Carriage, we fixed it up and attached a special device to it… You see, Unicorns each have different levels of magic in them. Some –like your daughter- have extreme levels in them. That device was powering the magical makeshift engine on this carriage… When it detected your daughters extreme levels of magic, it failed and crashed. Which also set off our tracking beacon. So in short, we are here for you daughter and her magic… Turn her over and you and yours will be ensured a safe place in the new world.”

“You really expect me to just give my daughter to you? I may be outnumbered, but there is no way I’d ever do that. Now I will allow you to take the cart, but nothing else.”

“You are not in a position to make orders here. You have two options… Option one, we take your daughter. Option 2, we take your daughter and club you like a baby fucking seal.”

“I’m not letting you even touch her.”

“Have it your way… Stone, the anesthetic.” Without any warning, I immediately felt a slight sting of pain in my neck as a dart hit me. Within seconds my vision blackened and I passed out.

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

My eyes slowly opened to find I was on my mother’s back. How did I get there? The whole day before now seemed to be just completely blocked from my memory… Almost as if my brain had just blocked access to the memory. Oh well, at least mom was with me. Wait, where was dad at? He was supposed to come home today. I jumped off my mother’s back and started walking next to her. Wait… I was starting to remember a little bit of the day. Dad had just come home and that explosion happened… Is that why we were walking? But where was dad at?

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

o-0-O-0-o-0-O-0-o

The world slowly phased back into the current time. I gladly took the chance to regain control of my body and jumped off the chair. That whole experience was strange… But it did answer quite a few questions.

I sort of wanted to view another one of the orbs, but I wanted to do something first… There was no doubt that my father’s remains were still in front of my old home… And I now remembered where that was. Before I would be able to end this war against the Shattered Ones, I would have to go back to where it all started… Plus I wanted to grab something.

“Placidity?” I exited my study and began to look around for her.

“Yes?”

“I have to go somewhere… But I’ll be back soon.” She walked up the stairs and revealed herself to be wearing a dress much like the one I was wearing earlier.

“As long as you take care of yourself. You taking Daring with you?”

“No… Make sure he gets settled in.”

“How long are you going to be gone?”

“Not long.” Since I knew exactly where my house was, I would be able to teleport there immediately at the cost of some extreme magical energy. I’d be strong enough to teleport there and back, but then I’d probably be out for the night. Teleporting is an easy enough spell as long as you know where you are going. Even easier if you are using it to just move a short distance. Either way, I’d most likely be fine.

“Be careful.” I nodded and closed my eyes. After ensuring that I knew exactly where I was teleporting to, I started to begin the spell. I started to grit my teeth as my mind began to expend energy in hopes of teleporting correctly. After what seemed like hours of pain and brain racking, I felt cold take over my body as wind hit it. My eyes opened to reveal I was outside.

In front of a destroyed cart with a small house near it.

The house was in an extreme state of disrepair. It was all I could do to keep from crying. I looked to my left where the Shattered Ones had been standing in the memory orb. Strangely, there was no sign of my father’s corpse anywhere. Was there a chance that he might have escaped? No, that was almost impossible… One pony versus about twenty is not survivable odds. I looked around in hopes of seeing something.

After seeing nothing, I decided he must have taken cover in the house. Standing at the entrance, I looked inside of the sad excuse for a once nice home… The living room was coated in snow since the snow had been going in through the window. Not only that, but the walls were pockmarked in bullet holes. There was no doubt that my father brought the fight into the house.

I began to take a trip through memory lane… The house- despite the snow and bullet holes- was exactly as it was in the memory orb. Even though I was there for a purpose other than the nostalgia, I decided a quick visit to my old room wouldn’t hurt…

It looked almost exactly how I’d left it… Well except for one thing. There was a line of blood from the living to my bed… Where a skeleton now lay on my bed. I recognized it as my father immediately… Because his favorite gun was lying on the ground near him. And a picture of me as a filly was lying on the bed.

“Dad…” I neared the skeleton and stared down at it. From what I could tell, he had crawled from somewhere else in the house where he then passed away here… I decided to have a moment of silence for him. No tears were shed, instead anger grew within me again. But this time, I grabbed the anger and placed it on a mental anvil; hammered it into a weapon that I could use. Anger would be my weapon, but it was anger that I would be in control of.

Concluding my moment of silence, I carefully levitated my father’s remains and began to make my way outside once more. After… Well not exactly sure how long… He could finally be at peace. Now I’m not a superstitious pony, but I couldn’t help but somehow feel… Somehow feel that he is watching me somewhere, somehow. Either that is a spirit, or from some otherworld…

Having no words to say for the skeleton that was my father, I simply began to dig a hole nearby. As I dug, I found myself wishing there was a way I could bury him with my mother, but I knew very well that was near impossible. The makeshift grave finally done, I carefully lifted the skeleton up once more and began to lower him semi-ceremoniously into the grave. Wish I had a coffin or something of the sort to put him in, but anything nearby would already be quite rotted.

After recovering the hole in the ground with soil, I made my way back to my room and sat on the small bed. Hard to believe that this room was the last place I was truly happy. And by happy I mean not as hollow shell of my former happy self. Sure, I was happy around Placidity. But… That was for her. I probably sat around the room for about ten minutes just staring at that same wall I stared at as a filly. So much of my time was spent staring at that same spot, just trying to ponder what type of pony Twilight Sparkle was; what type of life she lead prior to the war. Guess I was just trying to do it again with the hope that I’d look away to find my mother poking her head around the doorway, trying to get my attention without startling. But when I looked over, all I saw were the pockmarked walls of the living room.

Whether I like it or not, that life was gone.

I began to slowly make my way out of the house, before I remember that I wanted to grab my father’s gun. No doubt it would still be in my room, next to my bed. When I re-entered the room, sure enough, it was there. My father was careful with guns around me. But there was the occasion that he would take me out back and teach me how to aim the gun. Not exactly sure how I remembered that, but perhaps it had to do with the memory orb. That, or whatever the Shattered Ones gave me is actually wearing off.

I levitated the strangely familiar gun to me and began to examine it. Let’s see here… Revolver with eight chambers for bullets. The barrel was well maintained, and would be able to deliver the shot accurately. I wasn’t exactly an expert on guns myself, but I knew a good one when I saw it. Now, what type of ammo does it hold? According to the size, and the shell casings of course, it was a .45. Despite the reload time, this thing seemed like it would be rather capable of handling most creature or ponies that was staring down its barrel.

My only problem was that I had no .45 ammo, but I could probably trade this… thing… that I took from the Shattered Ones facility. Almost forgot I still had that, but now that I remembered… Just wanted to get rid of it. Could probably get a fair deal for this thing. Well, I now saw no reason to stay here anymore. This once happy home had fallen to the Wastes. Unfortunately, everything… Everypony would be reclaimed by the lands. It was Equestria’s way of revenge I suppose.

Luckily, my magic seemed to have recovered enough for me to teleport back to the Shattered Gleam. Once there, I was going to need one buck of a nap… Magic began to slowly wrap around me like a blanket, until I began to feel my brain starting to hurt. I took one last pained look at my house, and with a bright flash, I was back in the Shattered Gleam. Well, near it anyways. I seem to have offset myself to outside the walls. Oh well, not like walking a bit will hurt me. Kind of wish I would have put something on before leaving. Not because I didn’t mind going around without anything on, but rather because I was about to freeze my hooves off.

“Are you mad?” I looked up at the guard staring down at me.

“Excuse me?”

“Get inside the city!”

“What, why?”

“You haven’t heard?!”

“No.”

“Radiation spikes have been spotted all over the wasteland! Near deadly levels to be exact. The whole city is under alert. Hurry inside the city and get to your living area.” Not knowing what else to do, I made a dash into the gates, all the way to Placidity’s house. The moment I opened the door, I was greeted with her tackling me.

“Oh thank Luna you’re okay!”

“Yeah, I’m completely fine. Did you expect any less of me?” She laughed and let go of me.

“Of course not. But still, they say that most areas outside of the city are uninhabitable.”

“Any idea what caused it?”

“No. Bu-“The door behind us fell to the ground as a group of ponies decked out completely in pure black armor, all of which had strange masks that covered their entire faces.

“Unicorn.”

“What?” I turned to face the rather creepy pony.

“Come.” He spoke with a raspy heavy breathed voice and seemed to be completely out of breath.

“With you? Why?”

“Explain… Later.” Another one entered as the first made his way into the house.

“Who do you work with? I’m not going anywhere until I at least know I’ll be safe.”

“Completely.”

“Safe.” Both spoke as if they ran on the same brain.

“Okay…”

“Follow.” The ponies both backed out of the room with co-ordination that of which I’d never seen. Neither even got close enough to each other to touch armor. Once outside, they stood side by side nearly perfectly to make them seem like mirror images of each other. All in all, it was pretty creepy.

“Sector.”

“One”

“So… We’re going to sector 1? No complaints I suppose.” My comment ushered in no response, so we were left to an awkward walk to Sector 1. Once in Sector 1, we continued on to the gate, where they then made a hard right to a rather nice looking –albeit very small- building. Upon entrance, I noticed that it was indeed small. In fact, it only had a reception desk (which was closed) and a bench to wait on. Other than that, there wasn’t even another door. Well, save for the one that enters the reception area.

“Sit.”

“Here?” I pointed to the bench, which granted me two synchronized nods. With some reluctance, I did so. After I was seated, the two creepy ponies joined in on either side of me.

“Brace.”

“Yourself.”

“For wh-“the final part of the word trailed off to a scream of fear as the floor dropped out below us. Fear turned to relief when I realized that the bench somehow served as an elevator of sorts. How it did it, I have no idea.

Eventually the elevator came to a complete stop. It was around that time that I realized that my hooves had locked around anything that I would be able to cling to. I hopped off the bench and began to follow the two ponies, who were once again on the move. Seriously, it was like clockwork the way they moved.

“Ja, zhank you for bringing her in. Return to your duties.” The two ponies saluted the earth pony in the lab coat before walking past me as if I didn’t even exist. “Ah, wunderbar! You’re here. I’ve heard quite ze tale of you, my little Unicorn.”

“And you are…?”

“Zoktor Ethos. Head researcher of ze Ministry of Restoration!”

“The ministry of what now? I thought there was only six.”

“Ja, you are quite right… Sorry, didn’t quite catch your name.”

“Violet Glowingsnow.”

“Ah, so you are the one hunted by the Shattered Ones! I knew zer was something special about you, but zhat takes ze cake!”

“Wait, you know about the Shattered Ones?”

“Of course we do, you silly filly! Zey have been a thorn in our side for about… Three years? Yes, zat sounds right.”

“Please tell me you are close to getting them.”

“Oh got no. Zey are ze most evasive bastards we’ve ever vent against. Every time we find a base, POOF! Zey disappear like thin air.”

“Damnit… Oh well, they’ll get theirs. What’d you call me down here for?”

“Just getting to that. Ze leader of the Ministry would like to talk to you. You see, unicorns aren’t very common, as I’m sure you know. Even more uncommon is ze Unicorn that actually knows how to use ze magic!”

“Let me guess… You want my help.”

“Precisely!”

“Say no more. I’ll help, but under one condition.”

“Go ahead and state ze condition.”

“I refuse to be part of the warmth-bringers. I will be solely dedicated to helping you in the efforts to stop the Shattered Ones.”

“Consider it done. Anything else?”

“I work in my own team. Me and a friend are more than enough to take them on.”

“Is that cockiness I sense? I love it! Can get you killed though, so be careful.”

“Nothing else I’d like.”

“Good. Now, follow me to ze big man.” He began to walk down the enclosed hallways. The whole place seemed to be… Sanitary, in the sense that everything was so grey.

“How’d you know who I was when I said my name anyways?”

“The Shattered Ones mention you quite a lot. Zey always say ‘Violet Glowingsnow’ this, ‘Violet Glowingsnow’ that. Zey sound like a broken record!”

“Do they know what I look like?”

“Alas, no. Probably why zey started just abducting Unicorns left and right. Had to be you at some point!” We stopped in front of a door.

“Here we are! Ze head honcho is inside.”

“Thanks.” I placed my hoof against the door and pushed inwards. Inside of the door was a brilliant office composed of nice pre-war furniture that probably cost a lot to get.

“Ahh, glad you’re finally here.” The pony spoke with a very commanding deep voice. When he turned, he revealed himself to have a slightly worn blue pinstripe suit. Behind him was a large tapestry that depicted the entire world with Equestria emitting what appeared to be a magical green aura.

“Hello.”

“Glad to meet you. The name is Shining Horizon.”

“Is that your real name?” I actually don't know why I asked. It just seemed... Cliche for someone that is fighting to protect the wasteland for a brighter future.

“No, not even close. But I got rid of my previous name… For what reason, that doesn’t concern you.” The way he spoke seemed so… Familiar. Almost like I had heard it before, but I just chalked it up to not actually having a memory. Maybe we ran into each other sometime.

“The past is the past I suppose.” He sat down in a rather large black chair and looked at me. But somehow, it felt as if he was looking at me not as a new acquaintance… But rather someone who had known me for quite a while.

“Yes… Anyways, we have urgent matters to discuss. I’m told that you have excellent skills in magic.”

“I don’t like to brag, but I am pretty good in it.”

“Good. Because those damned Shattered Ones have more of everything than us. More people, more guns, more ammo. You name it, and they have more. But there is one thing that they don’t have. Magic!”

“And that’s where I come in. Alright, I’m all for it.”

“You’re going t-really? Not even going to ask what you’ll have to do?”

“Doesn’t matter what I’ll have to do… Either I fight them, or I continue to run away.” I turned away from him and began to survey some of the pictures he had on the wall. “They’ll still be coming after me no matter what I do. Better I take some down before they get ahold of me.” Some of the pictures were Pre-war, but there were a couple that looked to have been taken somehow. Were there even working cameras anymore?

“Well, welcome aboard then. Now, we can get you a uniform…”

“I have demands.”

“Oh, of course. What are they?”

“I already told that researcher with the German accent. He said he would take care of it.”

“Ahh, Doctor Ethos. Alright, but go ahead and tell me.”

“I refuse to be part of the Warmth-bringers, and I work alone. Just me and my friends.”

“You don’t want any assistance at all? I can’t force you to take some of my men, but…”

“No, I don’t want people I can’t trust with me.” I continued to survey the pictures, looking back to him as I talked. Something about them intrigued me. Each one of the newer ones depicted Shining in some feat, such as winning a battle or something like that. “I can do fine with just… My…” I slowed my speech as I came upon an image of my father. “Friends… Where did you get this picture?” I turned around and looked at Shining, who had what appeared to be a hint of sadness on his face.

“I apologize, I should have told you before. Your father and I were close friends; he was the best soldier we had… When he went home after his tour of duty 11 years ago…”

“You mean…?”

“Yes, the day that you and your family were attacked…”

“What could you ever possibly know about that day?” I spoke calmly, as it was what my father would want. There was no reason for me to be angry… His reaction was that of sadness. Strangely, he seemed as if it affected him more than I would imagine.

“Your father loved you. He told me that if anything ever happened, I was to tell you that. You meant the world to him.” I stared in disbelief as the pony before me began to cry. “He never wanted any of this for you. If he would have had the chance… You know he… He died for you, right?” I wanted to be angry… He had no right to interfere in my personal business. But… He was only doing what my father wished.

“Yes, I know.”

“Maybe one day… There will be a way for him to apologize. Apologize for putting you through all this…”

“Wasn’t his fault. Wasn’t my fault… It was the Shattered Ones. Which, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to talking about.” He wiped his eyes and put his front hooves in a tented position on the desk as he looked at me.

“You’re right. So, do you want to know our plan? Because, honestly… We don’t have one. Their latest base, the one you escaped from, was completely evacuated when we got there. They move faster than we thought.”

“Did they cause that Radiation spike outside?”

“Yes. We don’t know how, but… We believe they have access to very dangerous pre-war weapons.”

“How bad?”

"Intel shows… They might have access to Mega-spells.”

“Luna and Celestia help us…” I turned and stared at my father in the picture. If he were alive to see this… No, don’t think about it… Just… Don’t think about him.

“It’s quite the bad situation.”

“Do you have any idea about their next plan? Do you really think they could launch one of those things?”

“I honestly have no idea. That’s why we need you… Wasn’t just your magic. You are what they want…”

“Use me as bait I assume? I’m all for it, so long as you make sure to get there fast.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You should be more worried about them. If I get even the slightest chance to hurt them…” We sat in an awkward silence for a moment. We both knew what needed to be done, and we both knew how angry I was at them… When the time came, would I let my anger control me though?

“Whenever you are ready, we will begin th-“

“Captain?” We both turned to the Warmth-bringer who had just barged in. He was completely out of breath and panicked.

“Yes?”

“Shattered Ones… They, they…”

“Calm down son. What happened?” Shining stood from the chair and walked over to his soldier. “What did the Shattered Ones do?”

“They released… I don’t know how…”

“Jeez boy, what happened?”

“The wasteland is no longer safe. They crossed the mountain… Led battalions of Slavers and Raiders over… Brought some creatures too. Captain, it’s like it was 50 years ago…”

“No… They… How could they possibly manage that? We worked so hard to rid the wasteland of Raiders and the like. Violet, we need you now more than ever. Our situation just got dire, and you may be the only one that can help.”

“I understand. What do we do?”

“I… Don’t know.” He turned and stared at the banister that was probably the logo of the Ministry of Restoration. “I just don’t know. They may have just won the war… And started another Great War. If they do have access to Mega-spells…”

“Don’t worry, chances are that they either don’t know how to use them, or they don’t work at all.” I wasn’t sure if I was re-assuring him… Or myself. Luna knows what would happen if they actually used one… Celestia knows they wouldn’t hesitate too.

“I know now is not the best time, but what is really in that Ministry of Magic building?”

“Ministry of Magic? Oh, you mean Ministry of Arcane Science! To be truthful, I don’t actually know.”

“Never went in?”

“Once. Nothing really inside. Plus, the tops levels and bottom levels are blocked off with some strange security mechanism.”

“Okay, just wanted to know… So what are we gonna do?” He started to pace around the room. Eventually, he stopped and looked at me.

“Violet, we’re going to all-out war…” I sighed as I saw the look of sadness in his eyes. “And the Warmth-bringers can’t be in it. With those creatures and other things stalking around the waste now, we have to focus all of our power on keeping them away from this city. We’re stretched thin enough as it is…”

“It’s alright. I’m strong.”

“Your father would be proud… But he would also want you to be careful. Do it for- for him…”

“I will. Anything else before I leave?”

“No… Go on.” I nodded to him and exited into the grey hallway. Walking down the hall, I couldn’t help but think back to how Shining had broken down when he started telling me about my father. It was quite obvious that he cared for my father… No, I sensed something else. But I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what that was… Guess that didn’t matter. The world above had just gone to hell, and I’m dwelling on somepony that just got a bit emotional.

I exited out into the fresh air following another terrifying trip up the bench elevator. And holy Tartarus, everything did not look good. The once blue sky was now tinted slightly green by the radiation that had been released. Slowly, my Geiger counter clocked to indicate I was receiving minor dosages of radiation. Wouldn’t be enough to even get me sick, unless of course I stuck around.

I continued down the abandoned road towards Placidity’s house… She had to know what was truly going on by somepony she trusted. Plus, I needed to find Daring. It was time we got back out there…

“Placidity? Daring?” I called into the home as I opened the door. I knew she was here, but it still felt right to make doubly sure.

“Violet… Is it bad?” I looked over to the living room chair that my dress had been on a while ago. Placidity was sitting on it, looked down at the floor. Daring was on the couch nearby, same sad look.

“Do you want the good news or bad first?” Both looked at each other, then back at me.

“Bad.” I sighed. How could I possibly tell them that the world has practically ended again? Damnit, how could the Shattered Ones do this?!

“I’m afraid that… The Shattered Ones, they... Celestia, how do I say this? They brought the Raiders and Slavers from the Mainland. More creatures than imaginable as well. And they are responsible for the radiation.”

“Aren't the Warmth-bringers going to do anything?!”

“Placidity, Daring… They can’t do anything. They have to divert all their troops to protecting the city.”

“So, the Shattered Ones won…”

“No, they just managed to hold off their inevitable loss. They will not get away with this.”

“If that’s the bad news…”

“The good news is… Well, not really good news. But we aren’t completely screwed… I’m going to be leading the battle against them. Alone.”

“WHAT?! No, Violet…”

“I’m sorry Placidity, but this is something that has to be done…” I looked down to the ground. “If I don’t do something, they will be free to attack the wasteland more.”

“You can’t…” She had begun to cry, which hurt me more than anything.

“It’s going to be fine. This had been a long time coming… My parents died because of them, and now they have probably just killed thousands more… I don’t expect you to just wish me luck and help me out the door. I just expect you to understand… This is something I have to do.”

“I knew this day was coming… I just refused to believe it. I know I can’t stop you… So the only thing I can do, is say be careful.”

“I will. Daring, I don’t expect you to come with me.”

“You believed in me during my hardest time… Saved me from a life that would eventually end with me dead, or worse.”

“I don’t want you coming because you think you owe me something.”

“I don’t… I’m coming, because… You’re the only one that ever cared.”

“It won’t be easy…”

“I know. But neither will living under the rule of the Shattered Ones.”

“So you’re with me?”

“Always.” I walked over to the window and looked out into the tinted green air. All around outside, gunfire could be heard… There was barely a full minute of silence without a shot being fired. The Shattered Ones had single-handedly brought this peaceful land to ruin… They brought upon the second end of the world.

“It’s the end of the world… All over again.”

Footnote: Level Up!

Perk Taken: Alertness – You have the eyes and ears of an experience wastelander. Marks on your E.F.S will appear earlier than usual, and sneaking is easier due to you being able to sense the presence of others.