Into Oblivion

by ChaosZero460

Chapter 2: The Angel's Flame

CHAPTER TWO
Onyx waited for a few minutes before somepony came by and freed him from the table. "Take it easy, we just got you closed up" the pony in the white lab coat tells him. Onyx nods and slowly makes his way down the long dark hallway.

His chest was unbelievably sore, and it took him awhile to get used to walking with 3 metal hooves. He stumbles down the seemingly endless corridor, a small light every couple yards provided sparse amounts of illumination. A few flicker and some were burnt out altogether. Onyx hears a large group of ponies talking in the distance, the noise grows closer as he travels deeper down the hall.

The corridor turns 90 degrees and empties out into a huge warehouse-like room. Round lights hung from the high metal ceilings, bathing the drab gray surroundings in sterile white light. Dozens of ponies sat at long tables, talking, laughing and eating. All of them had metal on them somewhere, some more than others.

He slowly walks in, studying his new surroundings. A large cobalt-blue stallion with a crew cut mane seated at a table sees him and yells out "NEW GUY!" Instantly, every set of eyes was on him. Onyx froze.

The huge pony walked over to him, looking him over from head to hoof. A wide band of metal circled his abdomen. Onyx stood there, feeling an inch tall next to the Clydesdale. He saw him quickly lift a foreleg, the black stallion winces.

Unexpectedly, he grabs his hoof and gives it a vigorous shake. Onyx is thrashed and shaken, it felt like his leg was going to be ripped from it's socket. Given his current state, that was a fair possibility.

"Howdy! Call me Bruiser" he says with a big smile on his face. The blue pony takes note of Onyx's new metal horn. "Ah, got a Uni huh? Blackout must like you, we don't get many of those. They're expensive as hell to make."

Bruiser takes a step next to him and throws a hoof around him. The smaller stallion winces in pain. "Lemme show ya around." Onyx went with him, not like he had much of a choice.

The blue pony holds out a hoof and waves across the room. "This here's the commons area. Mess hall, movie theater on Friday night, pretty much whatever we need it to be. Hey, you must be hungry, what can I getcha?"

"Oh, no I'm fine" he replies. He didn't even want to think about eating.

"Ya sure? It's squash casserole today, damn tasty if I don't say so myself."

"No thanks, I'm alright" he says.

Bruiser shrugs. "Aight then. I wouldn't wait too long, stuff gets gone pretty fast." He walks over to his table and motions for Onyx to join him. "C'mere kid, have a seat."

He does as he's told. "So, what's yer story? 3 hooves, an eye and a chest reconstruction, damn son, what happened? Ya get blown up?" he laughs.

"Uh... yeah. Actually I did."

The blue pony's expression changes from laughter to wide-eyed horror. "Oh. Sorry bout that. Used to work construction myself" he says. Onyx took note of his jackhammer cutie mark. "Yep, was on a job in Manehatten. Had a load of I-beams being lifted up over me, gust of wind hit the crane, out comes the beams and crushes my spine. Ended up paralyzed from the waist down. Well I figured that was the end of my career, then I get a visit from a guy with the Guild. Doc patches me up with a new back, and I'm good as new. Hell, probably even better."

"She's back!" a pony yelled in a panic. In an instant, the room erupts into chaos. Ponies were tripping over themselves trying to get to their seats.

"What's going on?" Onyx asked.

"Oh hell. It's her" Bruiser said, eyes full of fear. "Quick, sit up straight and don't look at her."

"Who?"

"Angel Fire" he says in a hushed whisper, as if her name itself held some sort of malicious power.

The frenzied shouts and yells cut out like somepony had pushed mute. Hoofsteps are heard approaching, Onyx swallows nervously. What kind of monstrous pony could send them all into such a panic?

A small, unassuming cream-colored mare walks in. Her mane was purple with a red streak running down it, light green eyes look out at the stoic crowd. She had 2 small cuts on her cheek and a white bandage running across the top of her muzzle. A patch of metal sat on her right foreleg above the knee. She had a metal collar going around her neck, another small collar was wrapped around her tail. She had large, metal wings folded at her side.

She silently walked by, nopony dared make eye contact. Onyx decided he probably should follow suit. However he did steal a glance as she passed by, she had a red flame for a cutie mark. The metal-tipped hooves clank across the floor before she turns down the hallway. They all wait until the steps are no longer audible before they breathe a massive collective sigh of relief.

"What was that all about?" Onyx asks the blue pony to his left.

"That's Angel Fire, Blackout's number two" he says, reaching for his drink. He tilts the glass back, downing it in one swig. "Scary bitch" he says, wiping his mouth.

"Why, what'd she do?"

"Nopony knows anything about her. Where she's from, why she's here, or even what her cutie mark means." He looks around and leans in close. "But they say she got it when she burned down an orphanage" he whispers. Onyx's one good eye goes wide. "My advice, stay away from her." He nods.

"Anyways, the bunks are down the hall, first door on the right. Got an empty one in the back left corner, you're free to it. You look like you could use some rest" Bruiser says, nodding towards the room.

"Thanks." Onyx gets up and begins walking out of the commons area.

"Oh, hey! What's your name kid?"

"Onyx."
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The black pony walks into the room, bunks stretched for at least 50 meters. So much for privacy. He finds the empty bunk and falls onto it, seemingly losing all strength. He buries his head into the pillow and breaks down. Tears flowed from his one remaining eye, he couldn't stop it.

He hated crying. He'd only done it a few times his whole life, the last time was a few years ago at a particularly sad movie. He was pretty embarrassed about losing it over a stupid movie, but this... this was different. He'd lost absolutely everything.

Mom, Dad, Rusty, they were gone. He didn't know who would want to kill them or why, it didn't matter. They were gone forever, and he was all alone. He wished he had just stayed dead. This was Blackout's fault, he was the one who brought him here and made him a monster. Maybe he could just kill himself. After all, he already died once, he knew what he was in for.

He was completely drained. He closes his eye, resting on the damp pillow. He'd work this out tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted was to sleep. He drifted off into a deep slumber.

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"WAKE UP YOU PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR PONIES!!!"

Onyx jolts up, falling off his cot and tumbling to the floor with a clank.

"BLACKOUT WANTS EVERYPONY IN THE COMMONS AREA, NOW!!!"

Angel Fire was standing in the doorway, her voice booming off the walls like an explosion. The ponies scramble to their feet and file out into the hallway. Well at least now he understood why everypony acted like she would bite their head off. She probably would if he got close enough.

They assemble in the empty room, forming rows of ponies. Onyx falls in line next to Bruiser as Blackout steps out into the light.

For the first time Onyx got a good look at him. He'd be damned if there wasn't a resemblance between the two. Now even more so, considering the robotic eye and horn. Blackout's cutie mark was a... wait, where was it? Onyx nearly smacked his own head upon realizing his entire back half was mechanical. Whatever it was, it wasn't there any more.

"Good morning all. I apologize for the intrusion at this hour..." he said much too smoothly.

Onyx heard Bruiser quietly scoff.

"But there is a pressing issue that needs attending to. You see, yesterday the main generator suffered a malfunction, the rotor cracked and we're now running on the backups. Not to worry, I've arranged for the new part to be delivered at the Las Pegasus train station this afternoon. We just require somepony to retrieve it."

Silence fell over the crowd. "I can think of nopony better for the job than..." he takes a step towards the crowd. "Our newest member, Onyx Shard!"

Onyx's ears fell flat as his eyes grew wide.

"By completing the task, he shall cement his place among the Iron Guild. Accompanying him will be one of my most faithful subjects, Angel Fire."

His mechanical heart skipped a beat. He nervously glances over at the pseudo-pegasus. She scowls back at him with disdain.

"I wish the two of you the best of luck, and remind you that time is of the essence."

Angel gives a salute, Onyx follows up with one as well upon seeing her.

"Oh man. I'm so sorry. It was nice knowin' ya kid" Bruiser says, patting him on the back before walking away shaking his head. A few of the ponies look at him with sympathy before returning to the bunks.

The crowd disperses, he sees Angel speaking to Blackout. He couldn't make out what she was saying, but she didn't seem happy. Blackout points her down the corridor, she begrudgingly looks at the black pony staring at her and motions for him to follow her.

Onyx quickly gallops over, she looks him up and down before turning and setting off for the hallway. They leave the commons area and traverse the dark tunnel in silence.

Maybe she wasn't all bad, perhaps she just needed someone to talk to her. He'd break the ice, and surely she'd loosen up. "So... I'm Onyx-"

"I know who you are" she interjected. "And don't think just because you're Blackout's nephew that's going to grant you any favors or privileges."

Hmm. Ok then, perhaps not. Neither says a word as they ascend a small staircase and approach a large metal door. Angel Fire punches in a code on a small glowing console and the door slides open with a hollow groan. She steps outside, not waiting to see if Onyx was following her. He rushes to catch up once again. If he didn't know any better he'd swear she was trying to lose him.

The black pony looks around, taking in his new surroundings. They were in a forest, tall leaf-less trees stretched up into the early morning sky that glowed faintly as the moon traded places with the sun. A heavy fog hung low in the trees, the air cool and damp. Dead leaves crunched under their hooves as they followed a narrow, winding trail that would be easily missed by anypony not looking for it. He looks back, the entryway to the compound was nothing more than a small metal structure with no discernible function.

"Where are we, exactly?" he cautiously asks.

"Check your map."

"Uhh...what map?"

She lets out a frustrated groan. "The integral map built into your ocular implant" the mare answers in an annoyed tone.

"Forgive my ignorance, but I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Nopony's told me what these things even do."

She sighs and stops trotting. She turns to face him, looking far less than amused. "Your horn is an anti-magic energy weapon, AMW for short. A blast fired from it will destroy any unicorn spell matrices. It's aimed through the targeting system built into your ocular implant, which is also equipped with a short-range infrared sensor as well as map of Equestria. Your prosthetics are outfitted with a number of devices such as screwdrivers, knives, among other things."

"...so how do I look at the map again?"

She rubs her eyes, fighting back words. "Neural interface. Think it, and it will happen" she says, quickly running out of patience.

Onyx focuses and sees a map appear in the corner of his vision. A red dot signified his current position, he was in the middle of a green expanse labeled as "Howling Forest", a triangle likely representing the compound was just behind him. He zooms in and out, playing around with the map and getting a feel for it's functions. He looks up to see Angel Fire nearly a quarter mile way. "Hey! Wait!"

He rushes to catch back up with her. "Wait up! What is your deal, seriously?"

She looks back at him, he immediately regretted his choice of words. He didn't think of himself as a cowardly pony, but dammit, something about that look she gave was just plain scary.

"My 'deal' is I'm being forced to babysit a clueless, bumbling idiot who has no idea what he's doing or why he's even here, and frankly I find it a gross misuse of valuable resources to waste equipment on him when there's dozens of better, more qualified prospects. Does that answer your question?"

Onyx took a step back. "Yeah, I'd uh... I'd say so."

"I've seen your type before. You don't have any direction, any goals. You just trudge along life, content to whittle out a meager existence, satisfied with good enough and nothing more. And when you're presented with an opportunity to make a real difference, you pass it up in favor of the security of mediocrity" she says.

Finally, he'd had enough. All the things he had felt about his family's passing, his resurrection, it all just snapped. He stomps his metal hoof, crunching the orange, yellow and brown leaves on the ground. "Y'know what?! You're right! I don't know why I'm here or what I'm doing! I never asked for this! I watched my family, my whole world, get blown to hell right in front of me! I-FUCKING-DIED!!! I'm just going along with all of this bullshit because I don't know that else to do! And the absolute, last thing I need is some random chick telling me how she knows all about how I am! So if you're gonna kill me, eat me alive, WHATEVER, go ahead and do it! Because I am NOT in the mood for any more of this shit!"

He stood there, panting heavily. He'd never snapped like that to anypony, but he felt like this particular outburst was justified. Angel stared at him with a surprised look on her face. He had to guess nopony had ever dared talk to her like that before. There was probably a reason for that, he was fairly sure he was going to be on the receiving end of something very painful. Still though, he felt infinitely better about getting the twisted, bottled up feeling off his mechanical chest.

She closes her eyes and nods. "Fair enough." She starts down the trail once more, leaving Onyx standing there dumbfounded.

"That's it?! That's all you have to say, 'fair enough'?!" he shouts.

"What else do you want? We understand each other, and we have a job to do. So let's get it done."

He sighs and trots down the path. He never had understood mares, but this one was more confusing than most. Even so, he had a hard time not staring at her rear as she moved along. A young stallion full of hormones can only curb nature's tendencies so much.

"You so much as even think about it, I'll turn you into a gelding" she says, not bothering to look back.

"What? I wasn't doing anything, what are you talking about?" he stammers.

"You're a terrible liar. And not very discreet either."

"What, you got eyes in the back of you head now too?" Onyx says.
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They exit the forest after traveling a few miles through the trees. They trot down the light brown dirt road as the sun rises, burning off the fog and dew blanketing the ground. Their damp hooves were covered in dirt that stuck to them like a magnet. Onyx trotted along, following Angel who had been going just slightly faster than he was the entire time.

"Can you slow up? Just a little bit?" he asks, breathless and wheezing. He hadn't run this far since school. "Please?!" he gasps.

"I can fly, I could be in Las Pegasus in 20 minutes. At this pace we'll get there in three hours, I'm giving us four and a half to get back with the rotor. We will go at my pace."

"Three hours?!" he exclaims, his voice more of a squeak than anything.

"What, you're not up for a run?" she calmly asks, no sighs of exhaustion or even mild fatigue in her voice.

"When have I ever needed to trot for three hours?!"

She looks back at the stallion. "We will arrive on time. I'll make sure of that."

He didn't know what she meant by that, but he knew it wasn't good.