Fallout Equestria: Chronicles of a Rad-lingby Marion330ChaptersPrologue pt.1Prologue pt. 2Prologue pt. 3Chapter 1Prologue pt.1 Wispy had been working at the ministry of image for almost a year now, her internship almost over. The job was all she had ever wanted, no matter how menial the task. She got paid, and her boss wasn't a total tool either. She had been working late nights since the pickup of propaganda poster orders. She cleaned under the printers, and wiped off the press plates so they were prepared for the early-shift pony that would get the presses running again. Tonight however, she was working extra late. "You still here Wispy?" A voice awoke Wispy whom had been asleep, cuddling with the mop she had been using to clean under the printing presses. "Wah-hah?" Wispy woke with a start, recognising her boss' voice. She swept at the floor with the mop, trying to look as if she hadn't dosed off during work. Black Cap opened the door to the printing room, "Wispy, have you been here all night?" Wispy looked at her boss and nodded. Her eyelids drooped as her boss threw her left fore-hoof over his shoulder. He trotted her from the printing room to the front office, and helped her put on her jacket. "Now you go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow." Black cap waved as Wispy left, leaving him alone in the largest ministry of image hub other than the one in Canterlot. And he was not Black cap. Horilous switched back to his usual changeling appearance as he collected his briefcase from behind the front desk where he had stashed it when he had arrived and taken on the appearance of the night-manager he had been posing as for years. And tonight, he had more work to do. ___ ____ ___ Horilous had four hours to complete everything he had to do tonight before the early-shift ponies got to work. He unlatched his briefcase and examined the contents to insure the interface tool for the terminal in the day-manager's office was still intact. He entered the office end of the building. His smell receptors registered old coffee and cigarette smoke, telling him he was close to the day-manager's office. "Poor foal should quit smoking, I could find my way to her office even if the lights were off," he thought to himself. The door to the day-manager's office was carelessly left unlocked. Horilous entered the office and inserted the interface into the computer's spell matrix. Now all he had to do was wait for the zebra interface to work its magic, and deliver it to the changeling operative waiting in the park east of the seaddle spire. Horilous thought of his espionage as a job that needed to be done, he took no pleasure in his work. He actually enjoyed his time spent working for the ministry of image. But this was no culture exchange, this was war. A war of which battles were fought behind the scenes as much as on the front lines. The interface beeped twice, and horilous removed it from the terminal. He moved to the filing cabinets next, switching out documents with forged copies. Double the casualties here, reduce the troops trained there. All the little things that make everything a little more hopeless. Horilous kept the real documents, they would earn him extra at his next payment. The zebras always paid well for such things, such as troop strength and hardware production. The documents slid into the folder sitting in the open briefcase. Horilous exited the building, and locked the outside door behind him. He had resumed his magical disguise as Black cap, and began trotting towards the East Seaddle Park. The bit of flesh that always itched beneath his black carapace at these dark exchanges began to do its thing, which Horilous did his best to ignore. Snow had began to fall in the cold Seaddle night, and the chill slowly crept through his exoskeleton. If Horilous had a spine, a shiver would have shot down it. Horilous entered the park, hugging the fence until he came to a rusted bench. He sat, waiting in the chill for the changeling infiltrator to arrive. Praying to the great hive queen that all of this espionage would soon be over and he could go home. "Horsefly?" a invisible speaker questioned. "Cheeselegs?" Horilous responded. The changeling infiltrator ceased his illusion spell as he tossed a similar briefcase at Horilous' hooves. "That will include your next mission and contingency plans." "Contingency plans?" Horilous questioned. He tossed the briefcase full of documents and the interface to the other changeling. The other changeling sighed, "The war escalates every day hive-brother. If worst comes to worst, it would help to be prepared." Horilous stared down at the briefcase he had received, "Yes, It would. Keep safe Cacoon." "And you as well, hive-brother." The infiltrator resumed his illusion, and disappeared into the night. And Horilous sat on the rusty bench, looking at the briefcase he had received. Black cap wrapped the scarf around his neck and grabbed his briefcase in his mouth. He took a quick stroll around the park, admiring the scenery of the wintry Seaddle night. He exited the park, and made for home. ___ ____ ___ The case had contained locked container labeled: Contingency Plan Do not open unless heavy threat of capture The suitcase had also contained a box of cigarettes laced with some zebra drug he couldn't pronounce. The drug was confirmed lethal in anything but minute doses in the mission briefing. Horilous' nine chambered heart jumped to his throat as he read what he was supposed to use them for. The zebras behind his operation had grown tired of sifting through her personal messages, mostly received from her drug addict sister, who was the notable head of the ministry of morale. But this was an OP in the ministry of image, where the only thing her sister meant was more posters needing printing. It was sad really, she had been his trainer when he got his internship at the ministry of image. He had grown fond of the dark-maned manager. And he had never had to kill anyone before. He was a changeling from the worker caste, not some trained, cold-blooded murder. The bitter irony ripped at him. He knew why she had started smoking. It was to relieve stress that her sister's drug problems caused her. Even more ironic was that the cigarettes she smoked passed through her sister's ministry. Horilous placed the cigarette box back into his briefcase, and latched it shut. His apartment was in stark contrast with the world around it. So many a technicolour home had been built in Seaddle, but Horilous' home was dark, warmer place. His bed slightly, but he liked it that way. It was a smell that reminded him of the hive queen and his true home. Horilous locked his door, set his alarm, and finally plopped down on his bed and fell asleep. ___ ____ ___ Black cap followed a procession of ponies dressed in black. Tissues patted tears away as the casket holding the corpse of the now deceased day-manager descended into the six foot hole that would be her resting place. Black cap looked on as the family members began to shovel dirt in the hole covering her. A tear attempted to escape his eye, he held it back. The plan had worked without a hitch. The drug lacing the cigarettes had done it, she had died within the week she had received the deadly box of smokes. Of course this meant that he was now full time manager for the Seaddle branch of the Ministry of Image. All that the zebras behind his operation had wanted. But as a single pink carnation fell from the magical grip of a lavender mare in the crowd, he was not so sure of what his advancement had truly cost. Black cap realised that the ponies that had attended the service had mostly left, besides a few stragglers. He moved away from the grave-site and and made for the exit of the bleak cemetery that had been chosen. He had a long way to walk if he was going to fill out the paperwork required to get his new pip-buck ordered and make his new job official. ___ ____ ___ Prologue pt. 2Horilous stirred from his semi-comforable position on his bed. The plan had succeeded in getting him the position of fulltime manager of the Seaddle branch of the MoI. Any file, document, and code that moved into his jurisdiction was copied and sent back to his zebra counterparts. This success came with a unintended side effect however… A twenty hour work day. Horilous' first day had been a killer. Printing press number three died, and the repairpony had taken the worst of times to go on a four hour lunch break. Wispy had been his only solace the whole day. Her internship was finally over, and she had asked if she could throw a party on their floor. Being they were currently ahead of schedule, even with the printer misshap, he had agreed. Horilous staggered his way to his bathroom on his one and a half hours of sleep. He examined himself in the mirror, discovering that changelings CAN get bags under their eyes. He prepared to take a quick five minute shower to wake himself up so he could function at work. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that the shower pin had rusted in the on position. When he turned on the shower, a freezing jet of water doused him. He clumsily reacted, attempting to jump out of the shower. He slipped, and got caught up In the curtain. In a wet, freezing mass of plastic and changeling, he plummeted to the floor. He groaned as he untangled himself and the curtain. He returned it to its original position, and got back in the now toasty shower. He washed himself for what felt like about two seconds. He pulled the curtain aside to look at the clock for the sake of keeping time. He had been in the bathroom for about twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes!" the changeling panicked, having only ten minutes to get to work. The curtain was again knocked from its place as he rushed out of the bathroom. He collected his briefcase, scarf, and other office supplies as he got ready for the sprint to work. There was a rapid knock at the door. Horilous changed his appearance, and Black cap opened the door. He was shoved aside by the changeling infiltrator that burst through the door as he unlocked it. Cocoon hadn't even performed his illusion spell, and his rifle was drawn. "What was in your contingency plan?!" The infiltrator questioned. He sifted through Horilous' belongings, as Horilous stood confused at his side. "Why?" Horilous asked. The infiltrator spotted the briefcase and ripped it open, revealing the locked plans in question. The infiltrator pointed at the box, and Horilous reluctantly surrendered his key to the soldier drone. Cocoon unlocked the case to find a talisman looking device sitting in the bottom of the case along with a cigar. He hurled the case and its contents into the wall with his telekinesis in frustration. "What?!" Horilous asked, quickly becoming more concerned about why a well-trained infiltrator would be acting this way. "They screwed us all," the changeling muttered, not paying attention to Horilous. Now that Cocoon wasn't rumaging through his belongings, he could hear something he couldn't before. A faint, constant noise that filled him with dread the instant he realized what they were. Sirens. Cocoon moved quickly to the door, motioning for Horilous to follow. Horilous stacked up next to the door behind him. Cocoon drew his previously holstered 9mm handgun and passed it to Horilous. "Now, listen. You have to stay right behind me. I'll explain on the way, but we have to leave now if we're going to have a chance of surviving this." Horilous nodded, and both changelings quickly left the appartment. Leaving a pulsing talisman behind, attached to a remote detonator. ___ ____ ___ "They used us to deliver a mega-spell to Seaddle's doorstep?" Horilous questioned as both changelings moved quickly in between alleyways. "It would appear that way, The only safe place we could reach is a old abandoned hive that is connected to the sewer tunnels. Hopefully we'll be far enough underground to avoid any magical radiation should that spell detonate." Cocoon's tone of voice betrayed this worry about how protected they would really be. "And if we aren't?" Horilous questioned, quickly hating himself for doing so. Cocoon stopped for a moment to peek around a corner that lead to another alleyway, "Then we pray that Hive Queen Flux has mercy on our souls." Horilous swallowed, loud enough for Cocoon to shush him. Back around the corner, a sprite-bot lazily floated towards the pair of changelings. It floated around the corner the same second Cocoon peered around again, the robot bumped into him. Cocoon, Horilous, and the sprite-bot shared a deathly silence. Cocoon inched his rifle out, and pointed the business end at the floating robot. BANG! The robot faltered, but didn't fail. Its speaker began blaring sirens, and returned fire with the laser weapon attached to it. Cocoon emptied his clip into the floating radio, which fell to the ground in a flaming hulk. "MOVE!" Cocoon turned from the incapacitated sprite-bot. Rushing past Horilous, who was still staring at the burning remains of the robot. Cocoon grabbed Horilous as he went, breaking him out of his trance. Now, over the din of the siren, Horilous could hear voices approaching. "Draw your weapon. We're going to have to fight our way out," Cocoon reamained calm. The same could not be said for Horilous however. The pistol was barely held afloat by his telekinesis. He held it almost up to his face. The sights trained on the direction of the alerted guards voices. Seconds passed like hours. "Keep your sights steady. When they ease up, we make a run for the nearest pony-hole. We're gonna make it, just stay with me." Cocoon said again, trying to reassure himself as much as his worker counterpart. The first guard rounded the corner, and Horilous' world exploded around him. The pistol dropped to the ground. He couldn't even hear the siren anymore. Gunfire ripped through the alley. Guards were slain by precice rifle shots while Cocoon sustained multiple wounds of his own. Three guards dead, one fatally wounded, and Cocoon losing blood quickly. Horilous shook even more as he examined the scene. Cocoon staggered down the alley, locating a pony-hole around the next corner. He attempted to remove the cover, as the mortally wounded pony shifted. The pony lifted his weapon. With his last breath, he would end Cocoon's life. Horilous reacted. Without thought, he instinctively aimed the pistol and emptied the gun's contents into the guard's skull. When h finished, nothing but a bloody pulp was left behind. Horilous slowly levitated the pistol up, and examined it. Cocoon watched as Horilous looked between himself, the bloody mess of the last guard, and the pistol. Horilous threw the gun away and fell to his knees, realizing what he had done. Sobs escaped him as Cocoon supported him on his own shredded body. Cocoon removed the pony-hole cover, and helped his traumatized friend down into the sewer. ___ ____ ___ It had taken a while for Horilous to compose himself. Ten minutes after their violent encounter, Cocoon had collapsed. Now Horilous was the one supporting him. Cocoon had enough energy left to direct Horilous towards the hive. They finally reached a rusted metal door that Cocoon identified as the entrance. A terminal with a shattered screen was attached to the wall next to it. Cocoon could barely stand on his own but he did so anyway. He coughed up blood as he pulled a old key out from a pocket. He slid the key into a slot where the spell matrix interface port should have been. He turned the key, and the door opened. Revealing a odd force field that sat in the threshold of the door. Cocoon looked over at his worker friend, who walked through the force field. Horilous stopped and turned when the infiltrator didn't follow. His flesh began to itch again. Horilous spoke first, "Do you need my help?" Horilous moved to cross the threshold again, but Cocoon waved him away. "I'm afraid this is as far as I go. The wards on the door prevent magic use across it. I have to close the door behind you." Cocoon's voice sounded at peace through the green blood trickling out of his mouth. "There wouldn't be enough medical supplies to treat my injuries. Best I die and you live than both of us getting consumed by magical fire." Horilous couldn't argue, the infiltrator was set in his thinking. Horilous locked eye-contact with him as the key turned back. Locking him inside on somewhat-safety, while Cocoon sacrificed himself for the safety of another. Horilous waded through the darkness that consumed the tunnel. Suddenly the earth shook, and a loud rumble sounded through the cave. A boulder the size of a small cart dislodged from the ceiling, catching him by surprise. The rock crushed him from the flank back. His chitinous exoskeleton was the only thing that had kept his legs from bursting. He managed to lift the rock up enough with his magic to slide his legs out from under it. He couldn't move them, the muscles came apart under the weight of the rock. He laid there bleeding, broken. Horilous fought to stay awake, but shock eventually overcame him. He slipped into unconsciousness on the cold rock floor. Prologue pt. 3"Ugh, where am I…?" "Am…I dead?" State your name… I opened my eyes, and the darkness peeled away. I could only see a bright, white nothingness. No one around but me. State your name… The invisible voice commanded. "Horilous Hive-Kin," I responded. "What is this place?" There are many names, none are important. You may know this place as 'in limbo'. The voice answered. "So I'm not dead?" Your mind has been separated from your body for reasons unclear to us. We cannot return you to your body without instruction to do so. Your mind has been contained until your body fails, and you die. Or your body recovers, and we return you. "I can explain why" a softer voice rang out. Then do so, child of the earth "He possesses a hero's spirt." A magenta orb of light flashed to life from the white nothingness. It floated towards me, and I felt as if I was being judged by many eyes. Invisible to my own. "A hero's spirt? What do you mean?" The orb circled around me, as if inspecting every inch of my chitin. "You have the potential to become a great champion for good. " I watched the great whiteness fall away revealing a burning, forsaken Canterlot. Which was shrouded by a malicious looking pink mist. "The Equestria you once knew is gone. The land is tainted with magical radiation that twists everything it touches. Ponies and all the other creatures that inhabit the land now fight for their life on a daily basis." The picture changed. I now floated over crowds of ponies chained together. Sifting through metal scraps, cutting them down to size and throwing them into carts that other ponies pulled away. "But some still resist the evil that may reside in a ponies heart," The picture changed again, showing me a gray mare with a pip-buck as a cutiemark. "They fight on, but many challenges lay on the road ahead." "But what do I have to do with all this? My body would have decayed after such a long time of exposure to such conditions" I questioned the floating orb. The picture faded away, returning myself and the orb to the great whiteness from before. "Your body has been affected by the malicious process of ghoulification. Your body is still alive, but it has been twisted by the magical radiation from the mega-spell bombs. It has changed you." "Other ghouls have faced hardships, as will you. But they fight on," The picture changed again, showing what used to be a grey Pegasus lying on the ground, blood running from her mouth. "But what do you need me for?" "The land of Equestria is about to face its darkest hour. You will play a role, yet it is even uncertain to me which you will play. Pray to your Hive Queen that you do not disappoint us. Do not make us regret returning you to the land of the living." "What would you have me do?" Help those who require it, and cull those who prey on the weak. Those who stand tall on the corpses of many dead must be removed. Be a light in the dark, guide those who will follow you, and blind those who would stand in your way. You will bring the light of the stars to Seaddle. We will be watching I felt a strange urge to close my eyes. And as I did, the whiteness fell away to black. ___ ____ ___ Pain... I couldn't move, my body trapped inside some unknown material. I kicked and screamed, fighting to break free. My legs had not healed over the 200 years I had been 'in limbo', and attempting to break free aggravated old wounds. My fore-hoof finally punched through the strange material, and I ripped myself a way out. I had cocooned. My resting place looked like a coffin, now that I thought about it. The cave was lit with a odd green light, seeming to come from nowhere. Like the cave had a unnatural glow. I had to crawl on my belly, pulling myself with my fore-hooves to move without using my shredded legs. 'You'd think with the power to preserve my life for two hundred years, they would have fixed my legs' I thought. Then I saw it, a medical kit rested next to a burnt out lamp and a small metal box. I pulled myself to the kit, and there were numerous plastic bottles full of water. I dug around, and I found the item I was looking for. A health potion levitated out of the kit, a fluctuating green aura instead of my usual translucent blue. I pondered the cause while I sucked down the potion. I felt the potion's magic flow through me, creeping slowly out from my chest to the rest of me. Something about the healing sensation felt…off. I tried to stand, but my legs screamed pain in protest. I examined the half empty healing potion bottle. The magic in these things were made to last for centuries, It should've something. I grabbed one of the water bottles from the kit. I uncapped it and drank, chugging the first two bottles. I was about to chug a third when I noticed something. My legs felt warm, and…tingly? As I drank, I managed to get to my hooves. My legs had mended, somehow. 'Was this part of that ghoulification thing?' I looked from the butterfly marked box to the metal container that had accompanied it. The box had long been rusted shut, but a good toss against the cave cracked it open. The box had contained a rusty old pistol and two and a half clips of ammunition, which I took. The cave seemed to have grown brighter since I drank those three bottles of water. Whatever was in them, it worked better than that healing potion. I continued down the passage, taking all the bottles of foggy water I could find. The cave extended a good way, had to've been a good thirty minutes looking for an exit before I heard it. A clicking and popping noise, the closer I got to the source, the louder it got. I turned the corner, and discovered where it was coming from. It was coming from a Geiger-Counter attached to the radiation suit of a dead pony. The remains inside were less than a skeleton. Another pistol was next to the body, and I took the clip for myself. The pistol upon further inspection was broken. So I left it. The clicking seemed to fade when I broke line of sight, and faded away as I made my way farther through the cave. ___ ____ ___ "Aww, What the hell!" BANG! BANG! BANG! click-ck The huge, bald rodent leapt from the ground floor up to the catwalk as I riddled it with bullets. And of all he ammo I had scavenged, only the half-clip was left. The green vision was getting quite annoying, as it was making it hard to tell brown rodent from brown wall. A second rodent jumped up to the catwalk, within kicking distance this time. I gave it a one way ticket back to the lower level with a swift buck with my hind legs. The thing screeched as it fell to the floor, and was silenced with a loud crack. Signaling I had killed at least four of these mutated creatures. The first creature that had jumped up had pulled itself up onto the walkway. It growled as a string of saliva hung from behind the massive front teeth it had. I had already had the experience of being bitten by two of them. I would not let there be a third. The beast charged as I unloaded the rest of the ammo I had into it. The beast stumbled, landing inches from my hooves. It wasn't dead, but it was close. Eat it... "Where are you?! Show yourself!" I raised the empty gun. I may not be threatening, but I can try to fake it. You've been asleep for so looooong, aren't you hungry? I couldn't see anything talking, I caught myself looking down at the dieing animal. You know you want to. Now that I thought about it, the animals weren't attacking anymore. And the crazy voice that may or may not be my own imagination is right, I haven't eaten in literally centuries. But...I'm not hungry... I wasn't hungry. After 200 some years my legs are still broken, but my stomach is full? What the hell. The creature that had just two minutes ago wanted to rip my throat out, whimpered at my hooves. I remembered the half empty healing potion. It hadn't done anything for me, but maybe it would work on this thing. I pushed the potion up to the rats mouth, and poured. The potion took affect, healing it's minor wounds and taking the edge off the larger ones I had made. It stood up on its four paws, and looked at me. I would have described it as confused. It didn't attack me for my bout of stupidity either, which was cool. It ran away from me, retreating into one of the many holes in the wall. And again I was alone in some place I couldn't find the exit of. ___ ____ ___ 'In the moment, it seemed like a nice thing to do,' I thought to myself 'Yeah, it was a nice thing to do, but it was a choice that literally could have bit you in the flank,' I had exited from the cave via another metal door into what seemed like the Seaddle sewer treatment plant. Then I got ambushed by a bunch of weird rat things, and killed four before I ran completely out of ammo. I couldn't finish off one I had wounded, so I force fed it a healing potion. good to review on past incidents I suppose. It had taken me almost an hour, countless back-outs, and numerous deep breath sessions, but I had unlocked a terminal on the third floor just to unlock the front door. Who ever the pony was who designed building systems like this should be shot. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Level up! Current level: 2 ERROR: USER DOES NOT POSSESS A PIP-BUCK DEVICE. UNABLE TO ALLOCATE POINTS OR SELECT PERK UNTIL AQUIRED Chapter 1Clink……BOOOM! Cli–Clink……BOOOM! The street in front of the SS&WC, or Seaddle Sewer & Waterworks Complex as the small sign on the building stated, had mines scattered all over. I had nearly tripped over an active one as I exited the SS&WC. The only saving grace had been a small, orange glow from the bulb on top. Clink……BOOOM! The last hour or so, I don't have a watch so I don't really have a clue, I spent dropping rocks on any mine I saw from a somewhat safe distance away. I dropped a larger rock on the last mine, and it exploded. It sent up a spray like all the others. It had been placed on top of a cart, which began to glow with magical power. The carts magical engine had some energy left in it, and the mine detonating on top of it had been the last straw. The car released a huge explosion, throwing debris everywhere. The blast knocked me off my hooves, and I stood up as a foreboading glow consumed my vision. Making it even more green. The second cart detonated before I realized what was going on. By the third, I was on my hooves and galloping in the opposite direction. The chain reaction of explosions were gaining, and no alleyway was close enough to make it there before the rolling explosions reached me. I kept moving down the street, hurdling most obstacles in my way. The bus I had just past began to glow much brighter than any of the other carts, threatening to consume the whole street in magical fire. I just managed to take cover behind a dumpster before the bus was violently ripped to shreds by the magical detonation. My ears rang, a group of black armored ponies appeared out of nowhere. They didn't see me behind the dumpster, but they were obviously distressed by the countless explosions. Which, on the bright side, had stopped. The ringing in my ears subsided, but was replaced by a loud collection of howls. Each one deep and filled with blood lust. The power-armored pegasi readied their weapons as they launched into the air. I shoved myself under the dumpster, hoping that the troopers or the howling creatures wouldn't find me. Huge, padded feet crept up to the dumpster. I held my breath, hoping to not reveal myself. I could see the creature held a huge rifle through a hole in the bottom of the dumpster. The rifle was in poor condition, but the caliber was frighteningly large. KA-KRACK! The rifle fired as the huge caliber bullet ripped through one of the pegasi and his armor. the bullet slammed into his chest, and limbs flew as his torso was replaced with a gory crimson mist. The pegasi quickly located the canine shooter, and unloaded magical munition on the shooter, the dumpster... And me. Multicolored magical bolts burnt tiny holes in the dumpster, small drips of melted metal came down from the pummeled dumpster. The sniper had managed another shot, which missed, before getting hit center-mass and just disintegrating. Note to self, get fancy laser gun. more shooters came out of the woodwork, forcing the pegasi to retreat slightly down the street. The pegasi had them beat by far in combat discipline, but they were very out-numbered against well-armed enemies. The pegasi were slowly being beat back down the road. The huge canines stopped firing for a split second as a fighter-jet looking craft floated down through the cloud cover. The ship was armed to the teeth, which had been painted on the side. Rockets and magical beams filled the sky, singling out exposed targets and blasting away cover. One of the huge canines took shelter behind the smoldering dumpster I was under. The ship turned slightly, and a rocket shot from the hull. In the chaos of the battle, I moved while I had the chance. The dog was to preoccupied with the homing missile to worry about me diving away from the soon to be crater where the dumpster used to be. The rocket detonated behind me as I ran towards the nearest alleyway, hoping it to have a means of escaping this war zone. I saw my means of exit, another pony-hole halfway down the street. The canines had ran once the gunship had made its first strike, leaving only me in the street with the gunship. I didn't know where the small force of pegasi had gone, I didn't care. I lifted off the cover as a distinct woosh came from the direction of the gunship. I dived into the sewer, and the missile slammed into the street above. Rubble came crashing down. This time I managed to avoid the falling rocks. They crashed down around me, spraying the walls and myself with the odd pinkish liquid that slowly flowed through the subterranean tunnels. I ran to the nearest support beam and hugged it, hoping it would prevent any more cave-ins near it. The cave-in subsided, and the path back to the pony-hole I had descended from was now impassible. I moved away from the blockage. I collapsed, the adrenaline from the flight had worn off. The odd water made anything it touched tingle. I was to tired to care. I put my back up against the support beam, and closed my eyes. Completely drained of any energy after the breakout of chaos I might've been the cause off. The rays of light began to disappear, signaling the sun was going down. I climbed out of the odd, rainbow liquid onto some rubble, and fell to sleep nearly instantainiously. I sat in a dark room alone, a projector sent a blurry, indescribable picture up on the wall. And speakers built into the walls crackled to life. "Radiation exposure is a dangerous thing." The voice reminded me of the MoI sessions we had on the subject. "I can twist you. Break you down and build you back up completely different." The image cleared, showing a fillies' pet gerbil running on a wheel in a cage. A child's laugh played as the filly cuddled it. The image changed as the room began to tremble. The image was of one of the bloody mole rats in the SS&WC. The voice spoke again. "Cute little animals can be changed into vicious killers." The image changed, now a picture of…me? "Changelings were creatures that feasted off of love, and never killed. Benefiting more by living in peace and harmony." The projector cut out. Revealing a pair of glowing green eyes, huge fangs, and hellish looking wings. "Let's see what happens to a changeling." The voice coldly spoke, the words resonated around the room. The mutated changeling approached slowly. It's maw openned, reavealing two fangs pulsating with green energy. I couldn't move, and the fangs plunged through my carapace as I struggled to break free. I tried to yell, but I couldn't breathe. My muscles relaxed, and my head slumped. The room faded to black as the changeling abomination released my throat. I sucked in air as I came to, I was up to my knees in rain water. I turned to face a groaning metal cart about to cave, obviously losing the fight with the water it blocked on the opposite side. I ran the opposite direction, hoping to find a side tunnel that might save me from the deluge of water. I jumped in a runoff tube as I heard the cart give, the tidal wave exploded down the passage, The runoff tunnel protected me from the initial force of the wave, but water rushed in all the same. The water pushed me under, twisting and turning me. Discombobulated, I flailed through the water. Hoping to break the surface. Suddenly, The water and I weren't surrounded by the tunnel. I was in free-fall, careening down towards a reservoir. What air I had in my lungs blew out as I smacked the water. Stunned, I slowly sunk into the water after my bellyflop. I took control again and propelled myself up to the surface. I made my way to the beach, sputtering water as I went. Sand had never felt so comfy... "What the Tartarus are you?" A revolver leveled with my horn. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck There really was no reason to lie, "A changeling." "You meen like a rad-ling?" I heard the revolver hammer cock back. "No, a changeling." I gathered the strengh to look up at my would be interrogator. A cold grey earth stallion stood over me with a revolver in his mouth. "You don't look like any changeling I've ever seen." He looked me over. "You're all bleached and got fangs like a regular rad-ling. Though you don't have wings or tried to eat me yet." "Tried to eat you? Why would I do that?" The mussle of the revolver lowered. "Because only a few other changelings I know haven't tried to eat me." I sat up on my haunches, feeling strong enough to do so. "Ummmm, I had no intention to eat you." The revolver slipped away into a medical box that were serving as his saddlebags. "Thats good, because I had intentions to shoot you if you had. So, how'd you end up flying from that drainage pipe?"
Prologue pt.1 Wispy had been working at the ministry of image for almost a year now, her internship almost over. The job was all she had ever wanted, no matter how menial the task. She got paid, and her boss wasn't a total tool either. She had been working late nights since the pickup of propaganda poster orders. She cleaned under the printers, and wiped off the press plates so they were prepared for the early-shift pony that would get the presses running again. Tonight however, she was working extra late. "You still here Wispy?" A voice awoke Wispy whom had been asleep, cuddling with the mop she had been using to clean under the printing presses. "Wah-hah?" Wispy woke with a start, recognising her boss' voice. She swept at the floor with the mop, trying to look as if she hadn't dosed off during work. Black Cap opened the door to the printing room, "Wispy, have you been here all night?" Wispy looked at her boss and nodded. Her eyelids drooped as her boss threw her left fore-hoof over his shoulder. He trotted her from the printing room to the front office, and helped her put on her jacket. "Now you go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow." Black cap waved as Wispy left, leaving him alone in the largest ministry of image hub other than the one in Canterlot. And he was not Black cap. Horilous switched back to his usual changeling appearance as he collected his briefcase from behind the front desk where he had stashed it when he had arrived and taken on the appearance of the night-manager he had been posing as for years. And tonight, he had more work to do. ___ ____ ___ Horilous had four hours to complete everything he had to do tonight before the early-shift ponies got to work. He unlatched his briefcase and examined the contents to insure the interface tool for the terminal in the day-manager's office was still intact. He entered the office end of the building. His smell receptors registered old coffee and cigarette smoke, telling him he was close to the day-manager's office. "Poor foal should quit smoking, I could find my way to her office even if the lights were off," he thought to himself. The door to the day-manager's office was carelessly left unlocked. Horilous entered the office and inserted the interface into the computer's spell matrix. Now all he had to do was wait for the zebra interface to work its magic, and deliver it to the changeling operative waiting in the park east of the seaddle spire. Horilous thought of his espionage as a job that needed to be done, he took no pleasure in his work. He actually enjoyed his time spent working for the ministry of image. But this was no culture exchange, this was war. A war of which battles were fought behind the scenes as much as on the front lines. The interface beeped twice, and horilous removed it from the terminal. He moved to the filing cabinets next, switching out documents with forged copies. Double the casualties here, reduce the troops trained there. All the little things that make everything a little more hopeless. Horilous kept the real documents, they would earn him extra at his next payment. The zebras always paid well for such things, such as troop strength and hardware production. The documents slid into the folder sitting in the open briefcase. Horilous exited the building, and locked the outside door behind him. He had resumed his magical disguise as Black cap, and began trotting towards the East Seaddle Park. The bit of flesh that always itched beneath his black carapace at these dark exchanges began to do its thing, which Horilous did his best to ignore. Snow had began to fall in the cold Seaddle night, and the chill slowly crept through his exoskeleton. If Horilous had a spine, a shiver would have shot down it. Horilous entered the park, hugging the fence until he came to a rusted bench. He sat, waiting in the chill for the changeling infiltrator to arrive. Praying to the great hive queen that all of this espionage would soon be over and he could go home. "Horsefly?" a invisible speaker questioned. "Cheeselegs?" Horilous responded. The changeling infiltrator ceased his illusion spell as he tossed a similar briefcase at Horilous' hooves. "That will include your next mission and contingency plans." "Contingency plans?" Horilous questioned. He tossed the briefcase full of documents and the interface to the other changeling. The other changeling sighed, "The war escalates every day hive-brother. If worst comes to worst, it would help to be prepared." Horilous stared down at the briefcase he had received, "Yes, It would. Keep safe Cacoon." "And you as well, hive-brother." The infiltrator resumed his illusion, and disappeared into the night. And Horilous sat on the rusty bench, looking at the briefcase he had received. Black cap wrapped the scarf around his neck and grabbed his briefcase in his mouth. He took a quick stroll around the park, admiring the scenery of the wintry Seaddle night. He exited the park, and made for home. ___ ____ ___ The case had contained locked container labeled: Contingency Plan Do not open unless heavy threat of capture The suitcase had also contained a box of cigarettes laced with some zebra drug he couldn't pronounce. The drug was confirmed lethal in anything but minute doses in the mission briefing. Horilous' nine chambered heart jumped to his throat as he read what he was supposed to use them for. The zebras behind his operation had grown tired of sifting through her personal messages, mostly received from her drug addict sister, who was the notable head of the ministry of morale. But this was an OP in the ministry of image, where the only thing her sister meant was more posters needing printing. It was sad really, she had been his trainer when he got his internship at the ministry of image. He had grown fond of the dark-maned manager. And he had never had to kill anyone before. He was a changeling from the worker caste, not some trained, cold-blooded murder. The bitter irony ripped at him. He knew why she had started smoking. It was to relieve stress that her sister's drug problems caused her. Even more ironic was that the cigarettes she smoked passed through her sister's ministry. Horilous placed the cigarette box back into his briefcase, and latched it shut. His apartment was in stark contrast with the world around it. So many a technicolour home had been built in Seaddle, but Horilous' home was dark, warmer place. His bed slightly, but he liked it that way. It was a smell that reminded him of the hive queen and his true home. Horilous locked his door, set his alarm, and finally plopped down on his bed and fell asleep. ___ ____ ___ Black cap followed a procession of ponies dressed in black. Tissues patted tears away as the casket holding the corpse of the now deceased day-manager descended into the six foot hole that would be her resting place. Black cap looked on as the family members began to shovel dirt in the hole covering her. A tear attempted to escape his eye, he held it back. The plan had worked without a hitch. The drug lacing the cigarettes had done it, she had died within the week she had received the deadly box of smokes. Of course this meant that he was now full time manager for the Seaddle branch of the Ministry of Image. All that the zebras behind his operation had wanted. But as a single pink carnation fell from the magical grip of a lavender mare in the crowd, he was not so sure of what his advancement had truly cost. Black cap realised that the ponies that had attended the service had mostly left, besides a few stragglers. He moved away from the grave-site and and made for the exit of the bleak cemetery that had been chosen. He had a long way to walk if he was going to fill out the paperwork required to get his new pip-buck ordered and make his new job official. ___ ____ ___
Prologue pt. 2Horilous stirred from his semi-comforable position on his bed. The plan had succeeded in getting him the position of fulltime manager of the Seaddle branch of the MoI. Any file, document, and code that moved into his jurisdiction was copied and sent back to his zebra counterparts. This success came with a unintended side effect however… A twenty hour work day. Horilous' first day had been a killer. Printing press number three died, and the repairpony had taken the worst of times to go on a four hour lunch break. Wispy had been his only solace the whole day. Her internship was finally over, and she had asked if she could throw a party on their floor. Being they were currently ahead of schedule, even with the printer misshap, he had agreed. Horilous staggered his way to his bathroom on his one and a half hours of sleep. He examined himself in the mirror, discovering that changelings CAN get bags under their eyes. He prepared to take a quick five minute shower to wake himself up so he could function at work. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that the shower pin had rusted in the on position. When he turned on the shower, a freezing jet of water doused him. He clumsily reacted, attempting to jump out of the shower. He slipped, and got caught up In the curtain. In a wet, freezing mass of plastic and changeling, he plummeted to the floor. He groaned as he untangled himself and the curtain. He returned it to its original position, and got back in the now toasty shower. He washed himself for what felt like about two seconds. He pulled the curtain aside to look at the clock for the sake of keeping time. He had been in the bathroom for about twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes!" the changeling panicked, having only ten minutes to get to work. The curtain was again knocked from its place as he rushed out of the bathroom. He collected his briefcase, scarf, and other office supplies as he got ready for the sprint to work. There was a rapid knock at the door. Horilous changed his appearance, and Black cap opened the door. He was shoved aside by the changeling infiltrator that burst through the door as he unlocked it. Cocoon hadn't even performed his illusion spell, and his rifle was drawn. "What was in your contingency plan?!" The infiltrator questioned. He sifted through Horilous' belongings, as Horilous stood confused at his side. "Why?" Horilous asked. The infiltrator spotted the briefcase and ripped it open, revealing the locked plans in question. The infiltrator pointed at the box, and Horilous reluctantly surrendered his key to the soldier drone. Cocoon unlocked the case to find a talisman looking device sitting in the bottom of the case along with a cigar. He hurled the case and its contents into the wall with his telekinesis in frustration. "What?!" Horilous asked, quickly becoming more concerned about why a well-trained infiltrator would be acting this way. "They screwed us all," the changeling muttered, not paying attention to Horilous. Now that Cocoon wasn't rumaging through his belongings, he could hear something he couldn't before. A faint, constant noise that filled him with dread the instant he realized what they were. Sirens. Cocoon moved quickly to the door, motioning for Horilous to follow. Horilous stacked up next to the door behind him. Cocoon drew his previously holstered 9mm handgun and passed it to Horilous. "Now, listen. You have to stay right behind me. I'll explain on the way, but we have to leave now if we're going to have a chance of surviving this." Horilous nodded, and both changelings quickly left the appartment. Leaving a pulsing talisman behind, attached to a remote detonator. ___ ____ ___ "They used us to deliver a mega-spell to Seaddle's doorstep?" Horilous questioned as both changelings moved quickly in between alleyways. "It would appear that way, The only safe place we could reach is a old abandoned hive that is connected to the sewer tunnels. Hopefully we'll be far enough underground to avoid any magical radiation should that spell detonate." Cocoon's tone of voice betrayed this worry about how protected they would really be. "And if we aren't?" Horilous questioned, quickly hating himself for doing so. Cocoon stopped for a moment to peek around a corner that lead to another alleyway, "Then we pray that Hive Queen Flux has mercy on our souls." Horilous swallowed, loud enough for Cocoon to shush him. Back around the corner, a sprite-bot lazily floated towards the pair of changelings. It floated around the corner the same second Cocoon peered around again, the robot bumped into him. Cocoon, Horilous, and the sprite-bot shared a deathly silence. Cocoon inched his rifle out, and pointed the business end at the floating robot. BANG! The robot faltered, but didn't fail. Its speaker began blaring sirens, and returned fire with the laser weapon attached to it. Cocoon emptied his clip into the floating radio, which fell to the ground in a flaming hulk. "MOVE!" Cocoon turned from the incapacitated sprite-bot. Rushing past Horilous, who was still staring at the burning remains of the robot. Cocoon grabbed Horilous as he went, breaking him out of his trance. Now, over the din of the siren, Horilous could hear voices approaching. "Draw your weapon. We're going to have to fight our way out," Cocoon reamained calm. The same could not be said for Horilous however. The pistol was barely held afloat by his telekinesis. He held it almost up to his face. The sights trained on the direction of the alerted guards voices. Seconds passed like hours. "Keep your sights steady. When they ease up, we make a run for the nearest pony-hole. We're gonna make it, just stay with me." Cocoon said again, trying to reassure himself as much as his worker counterpart. The first guard rounded the corner, and Horilous' world exploded around him. The pistol dropped to the ground. He couldn't even hear the siren anymore. Gunfire ripped through the alley. Guards were slain by precice rifle shots while Cocoon sustained multiple wounds of his own. Three guards dead, one fatally wounded, and Cocoon losing blood quickly. Horilous shook even more as he examined the scene. Cocoon staggered down the alley, locating a pony-hole around the next corner. He attempted to remove the cover, as the mortally wounded pony shifted. The pony lifted his weapon. With his last breath, he would end Cocoon's life. Horilous reacted. Without thought, he instinctively aimed the pistol and emptied the gun's contents into the guard's skull. When h finished, nothing but a bloody pulp was left behind. Horilous slowly levitated the pistol up, and examined it. Cocoon watched as Horilous looked between himself, the bloody mess of the last guard, and the pistol. Horilous threw the gun away and fell to his knees, realizing what he had done. Sobs escaped him as Cocoon supported him on his own shredded body. Cocoon removed the pony-hole cover, and helped his traumatized friend down into the sewer. ___ ____ ___ It had taken a while for Horilous to compose himself. Ten minutes after their violent encounter, Cocoon had collapsed. Now Horilous was the one supporting him. Cocoon had enough energy left to direct Horilous towards the hive. They finally reached a rusted metal door that Cocoon identified as the entrance. A terminal with a shattered screen was attached to the wall next to it. Cocoon could barely stand on his own but he did so anyway. He coughed up blood as he pulled a old key out from a pocket. He slid the key into a slot where the spell matrix interface port should have been. He turned the key, and the door opened. Revealing a odd force field that sat in the threshold of the door. Cocoon looked over at his worker friend, who walked through the force field. Horilous stopped and turned when the infiltrator didn't follow. His flesh began to itch again. Horilous spoke first, "Do you need my help?" Horilous moved to cross the threshold again, but Cocoon waved him away. "I'm afraid this is as far as I go. The wards on the door prevent magic use across it. I have to close the door behind you." Cocoon's voice sounded at peace through the green blood trickling out of his mouth. "There wouldn't be enough medical supplies to treat my injuries. Best I die and you live than both of us getting consumed by magical fire." Horilous couldn't argue, the infiltrator was set in his thinking. Horilous locked eye-contact with him as the key turned back. Locking him inside on somewhat-safety, while Cocoon sacrificed himself for the safety of another. Horilous waded through the darkness that consumed the tunnel. Suddenly the earth shook, and a loud rumble sounded through the cave. A boulder the size of a small cart dislodged from the ceiling, catching him by surprise. The rock crushed him from the flank back. His chitinous exoskeleton was the only thing that had kept his legs from bursting. He managed to lift the rock up enough with his magic to slide his legs out from under it. He couldn't move them, the muscles came apart under the weight of the rock. He laid there bleeding, broken. Horilous fought to stay awake, but shock eventually overcame him. He slipped into unconsciousness on the cold rock floor.
Prologue pt. 3"Ugh, where am I…?" "Am…I dead?" State your name… I opened my eyes, and the darkness peeled away. I could only see a bright, white nothingness. No one around but me. State your name… The invisible voice commanded. "Horilous Hive-Kin," I responded. "What is this place?" There are many names, none are important. You may know this place as 'in limbo'. The voice answered. "So I'm not dead?" Your mind has been separated from your body for reasons unclear to us. We cannot return you to your body without instruction to do so. Your mind has been contained until your body fails, and you die. Or your body recovers, and we return you. "I can explain why" a softer voice rang out. Then do so, child of the earth "He possesses a hero's spirt." A magenta orb of light flashed to life from the white nothingness. It floated towards me, and I felt as if I was being judged by many eyes. Invisible to my own. "A hero's spirt? What do you mean?" The orb circled around me, as if inspecting every inch of my chitin. "You have the potential to become a great champion for good. " I watched the great whiteness fall away revealing a burning, forsaken Canterlot. Which was shrouded by a malicious looking pink mist. "The Equestria you once knew is gone. The land is tainted with magical radiation that twists everything it touches. Ponies and all the other creatures that inhabit the land now fight for their life on a daily basis." The picture changed. I now floated over crowds of ponies chained together. Sifting through metal scraps, cutting them down to size and throwing them into carts that other ponies pulled away. "But some still resist the evil that may reside in a ponies heart," The picture changed again, showing me a gray mare with a pip-buck as a cutiemark. "They fight on, but many challenges lay on the road ahead." "But what do I have to do with all this? My body would have decayed after such a long time of exposure to such conditions" I questioned the floating orb. The picture faded away, returning myself and the orb to the great whiteness from before. "Your body has been affected by the malicious process of ghoulification. Your body is still alive, but it has been twisted by the magical radiation from the mega-spell bombs. It has changed you." "Other ghouls have faced hardships, as will you. But they fight on," The picture changed again, showing what used to be a grey Pegasus lying on the ground, blood running from her mouth. "But what do you need me for?" "The land of Equestria is about to face its darkest hour. You will play a role, yet it is even uncertain to me which you will play. Pray to your Hive Queen that you do not disappoint us. Do not make us regret returning you to the land of the living." "What would you have me do?" Help those who require it, and cull those who prey on the weak. Those who stand tall on the corpses of many dead must be removed. Be a light in the dark, guide those who will follow you, and blind those who would stand in your way. You will bring the light of the stars to Seaddle. We will be watching I felt a strange urge to close my eyes. And as I did, the whiteness fell away to black. ___ ____ ___ Pain... I couldn't move, my body trapped inside some unknown material. I kicked and screamed, fighting to break free. My legs had not healed over the 200 years I had been 'in limbo', and attempting to break free aggravated old wounds. My fore-hoof finally punched through the strange material, and I ripped myself a way out. I had cocooned. My resting place looked like a coffin, now that I thought about it. The cave was lit with a odd green light, seeming to come from nowhere. Like the cave had a unnatural glow. I had to crawl on my belly, pulling myself with my fore-hooves to move without using my shredded legs. 'You'd think with the power to preserve my life for two hundred years, they would have fixed my legs' I thought. Then I saw it, a medical kit rested next to a burnt out lamp and a small metal box. I pulled myself to the kit, and there were numerous plastic bottles full of water. I dug around, and I found the item I was looking for. A health potion levitated out of the kit, a fluctuating green aura instead of my usual translucent blue. I pondered the cause while I sucked down the potion. I felt the potion's magic flow through me, creeping slowly out from my chest to the rest of me. Something about the healing sensation felt…off. I tried to stand, but my legs screamed pain in protest. I examined the half empty healing potion bottle. The magic in these things were made to last for centuries, It should've something. I grabbed one of the water bottles from the kit. I uncapped it and drank, chugging the first two bottles. I was about to chug a third when I noticed something. My legs felt warm, and…tingly? As I drank, I managed to get to my hooves. My legs had mended, somehow. 'Was this part of that ghoulification thing?' I looked from the butterfly marked box to the metal container that had accompanied it. The box had long been rusted shut, but a good toss against the cave cracked it open. The box had contained a rusty old pistol and two and a half clips of ammunition, which I took. The cave seemed to have grown brighter since I drank those three bottles of water. Whatever was in them, it worked better than that healing potion. I continued down the passage, taking all the bottles of foggy water I could find. The cave extended a good way, had to've been a good thirty minutes looking for an exit before I heard it. A clicking and popping noise, the closer I got to the source, the louder it got. I turned the corner, and discovered where it was coming from. It was coming from a Geiger-Counter attached to the radiation suit of a dead pony. The remains inside were less than a skeleton. Another pistol was next to the body, and I took the clip for myself. The pistol upon further inspection was broken. So I left it. The clicking seemed to fade when I broke line of sight, and faded away as I made my way farther through the cave. ___ ____ ___ "Aww, What the hell!" BANG! BANG! BANG! click-ck The huge, bald rodent leapt from the ground floor up to the catwalk as I riddled it with bullets. And of all he ammo I had scavenged, only the half-clip was left. The green vision was getting quite annoying, as it was making it hard to tell brown rodent from brown wall. A second rodent jumped up to the catwalk, within kicking distance this time. I gave it a one way ticket back to the lower level with a swift buck with my hind legs. The thing screeched as it fell to the floor, and was silenced with a loud crack. Signaling I had killed at least four of these mutated creatures. The first creature that had jumped up had pulled itself up onto the walkway. It growled as a string of saliva hung from behind the massive front teeth it had. I had already had the experience of being bitten by two of them. I would not let there be a third. The beast charged as I unloaded the rest of the ammo I had into it. The beast stumbled, landing inches from my hooves. It wasn't dead, but it was close. Eat it... "Where are you?! Show yourself!" I raised the empty gun. I may not be threatening, but I can try to fake it. You've been asleep for so looooong, aren't you hungry? I couldn't see anything talking, I caught myself looking down at the dieing animal. You know you want to. Now that I thought about it, the animals weren't attacking anymore. And the crazy voice that may or may not be my own imagination is right, I haven't eaten in literally centuries. But...I'm not hungry... I wasn't hungry. After 200 some years my legs are still broken, but my stomach is full? What the hell. The creature that had just two minutes ago wanted to rip my throat out, whimpered at my hooves. I remembered the half empty healing potion. It hadn't done anything for me, but maybe it would work on this thing. I pushed the potion up to the rats mouth, and poured. The potion took affect, healing it's minor wounds and taking the edge off the larger ones I had made. It stood up on its four paws, and looked at me. I would have described it as confused. It didn't attack me for my bout of stupidity either, which was cool. It ran away from me, retreating into one of the many holes in the wall. And again I was alone in some place I couldn't find the exit of. ___ ____ ___ 'In the moment, it seemed like a nice thing to do,' I thought to myself 'Yeah, it was a nice thing to do, but it was a choice that literally could have bit you in the flank,' I had exited from the cave via another metal door into what seemed like the Seaddle sewer treatment plant. Then I got ambushed by a bunch of weird rat things, and killed four before I ran completely out of ammo. I couldn't finish off one I had wounded, so I force fed it a healing potion. good to review on past incidents I suppose. It had taken me almost an hour, countless back-outs, and numerous deep breath sessions, but I had unlocked a terminal on the third floor just to unlock the front door. Who ever the pony was who designed building systems like this should be shot. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Level up! Current level: 2 ERROR: USER DOES NOT POSSESS A PIP-BUCK DEVICE. UNABLE TO ALLOCATE POINTS OR SELECT PERK UNTIL AQUIRED
Chapter 1Clink……BOOOM! Cli–Clink……BOOOM! The street in front of the SS&WC, or Seaddle Sewer & Waterworks Complex as the small sign on the building stated, had mines scattered all over. I had nearly tripped over an active one as I exited the SS&WC. The only saving grace had been a small, orange glow from the bulb on top. Clink……BOOOM! The last hour or so, I don't have a watch so I don't really have a clue, I spent dropping rocks on any mine I saw from a somewhat safe distance away. I dropped a larger rock on the last mine, and it exploded. It sent up a spray like all the others. It had been placed on top of a cart, which began to glow with magical power. The carts magical engine had some energy left in it, and the mine detonating on top of it had been the last straw. The car released a huge explosion, throwing debris everywhere. The blast knocked me off my hooves, and I stood up as a foreboading glow consumed my vision. Making it even more green. The second cart detonated before I realized what was going on. By the third, I was on my hooves and galloping in the opposite direction. The chain reaction of explosions were gaining, and no alleyway was close enough to make it there before the rolling explosions reached me. I kept moving down the street, hurdling most obstacles in my way. The bus I had just past began to glow much brighter than any of the other carts, threatening to consume the whole street in magical fire. I just managed to take cover behind a dumpster before the bus was violently ripped to shreds by the magical detonation. My ears rang, a group of black armored ponies appeared out of nowhere. They didn't see me behind the dumpster, but they were obviously distressed by the countless explosions. Which, on the bright side, had stopped. The ringing in my ears subsided, but was replaced by a loud collection of howls. Each one deep and filled with blood lust. The power-armored pegasi readied their weapons as they launched into the air. I shoved myself under the dumpster, hoping that the troopers or the howling creatures wouldn't find me. Huge, padded feet crept up to the dumpster. I held my breath, hoping to not reveal myself. I could see the creature held a huge rifle through a hole in the bottom of the dumpster. The rifle was in poor condition, but the caliber was frighteningly large. KA-KRACK! The rifle fired as the huge caliber bullet ripped through one of the pegasi and his armor. the bullet slammed into his chest, and limbs flew as his torso was replaced with a gory crimson mist. The pegasi quickly located the canine shooter, and unloaded magical munition on the shooter, the dumpster... And me. Multicolored magical bolts burnt tiny holes in the dumpster, small drips of melted metal came down from the pummeled dumpster. The sniper had managed another shot, which missed, before getting hit center-mass and just disintegrating. Note to self, get fancy laser gun. more shooters came out of the woodwork, forcing the pegasi to retreat slightly down the street. The pegasi had them beat by far in combat discipline, but they were very out-numbered against well-armed enemies. The pegasi were slowly being beat back down the road. The huge canines stopped firing for a split second as a fighter-jet looking craft floated down through the cloud cover. The ship was armed to the teeth, which had been painted on the side. Rockets and magical beams filled the sky, singling out exposed targets and blasting away cover. One of the huge canines took shelter behind the smoldering dumpster I was under. The ship turned slightly, and a rocket shot from the hull. In the chaos of the battle, I moved while I had the chance. The dog was to preoccupied with the homing missile to worry about me diving away from the soon to be crater where the dumpster used to be. The rocket detonated behind me as I ran towards the nearest alleyway, hoping it to have a means of escaping this war zone. I saw my means of exit, another pony-hole halfway down the street. The canines had ran once the gunship had made its first strike, leaving only me in the street with the gunship. I didn't know where the small force of pegasi had gone, I didn't care. I lifted off the cover as a distinct woosh came from the direction of the gunship. I dived into the sewer, and the missile slammed into the street above. Rubble came crashing down. This time I managed to avoid the falling rocks. They crashed down around me, spraying the walls and myself with the odd pinkish liquid that slowly flowed through the subterranean tunnels. I ran to the nearest support beam and hugged it, hoping it would prevent any more cave-ins near it. The cave-in subsided, and the path back to the pony-hole I had descended from was now impassible. I moved away from the blockage. I collapsed, the adrenaline from the flight had worn off. The odd water made anything it touched tingle. I was to tired to care. I put my back up against the support beam, and closed my eyes. Completely drained of any energy after the breakout of chaos I might've been the cause off. The rays of light began to disappear, signaling the sun was going down. I climbed out of the odd, rainbow liquid onto some rubble, and fell to sleep nearly instantainiously. I sat in a dark room alone, a projector sent a blurry, indescribable picture up on the wall. And speakers built into the walls crackled to life. "Radiation exposure is a dangerous thing." The voice reminded me of the MoI sessions we had on the subject. "I can twist you. Break you down and build you back up completely different." The image cleared, showing a fillies' pet gerbil running on a wheel in a cage. A child's laugh played as the filly cuddled it. The image changed as the room began to tremble. The image was of one of the bloody mole rats in the SS&WC. The voice spoke again. "Cute little animals can be changed into vicious killers." The image changed, now a picture of…me? "Changelings were creatures that feasted off of love, and never killed. Benefiting more by living in peace and harmony." The projector cut out. Revealing a pair of glowing green eyes, huge fangs, and hellish looking wings. "Let's see what happens to a changeling." The voice coldly spoke, the words resonated around the room. The mutated changeling approached slowly. It's maw openned, reavealing two fangs pulsating with green energy. I couldn't move, and the fangs plunged through my carapace as I struggled to break free. I tried to yell, but I couldn't breathe. My muscles relaxed, and my head slumped. The room faded to black as the changeling abomination released my throat. I sucked in air as I came to, I was up to my knees in rain water. I turned to face a groaning metal cart about to cave, obviously losing the fight with the water it blocked on the opposite side. I ran the opposite direction, hoping to find a side tunnel that might save me from the deluge of water. I jumped in a runoff tube as I heard the cart give, the tidal wave exploded down the passage, The runoff tunnel protected me from the initial force of the wave, but water rushed in all the same. The water pushed me under, twisting and turning me. Discombobulated, I flailed through the water. Hoping to break the surface. Suddenly, The water and I weren't surrounded by the tunnel. I was in free-fall, careening down towards a reservoir. What air I had in my lungs blew out as I smacked the water. Stunned, I slowly sunk into the water after my bellyflop. I took control again and propelled myself up to the surface. I made my way to the beach, sputtering water as I went. Sand had never felt so comfy... "What the Tartarus are you?" A revolver leveled with my horn. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck There really was no reason to lie, "A changeling." "You meen like a rad-ling?" I heard the revolver hammer cock back. "No, a changeling." I gathered the strengh to look up at my would be interrogator. A cold grey earth stallion stood over me with a revolver in his mouth. "You don't look like any changeling I've ever seen." He looked me over. "You're all bleached and got fangs like a regular rad-ling. Though you don't have wings or tried to eat me yet." "Tried to eat you? Why would I do that?" The mussle of the revolver lowered. "Because only a few other changelings I know haven't tried to eat me." I sat up on my haunches, feeling strong enough to do so. "Ummmm, I had no intention to eat you." The revolver slipped away into a medical box that were serving as his saddlebags. "Thats good, because I had intentions to shoot you if you had. So, how'd you end up flying from that drainage pipe?"
