The other End of Balance

by Dostoron

Good evening, loyal watchers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Apple Cobbler~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Interview with Thunderstorm had put you on the top of the Free Press´ foodchain, so much so in fact that your Boss issued you an own Camerapony, a friendly enough mare named Film Reel and a Bodyguard in case the concurrence or the authorities were out for your head.
The other Reporters were all over a bunch of students, that said they had spoken with Thunderstorm before, he told them to spread the real message peacefully for their safety, that stallion was evidently not a fool when it came to the power of the public eye.

All that mattered little though after the princess and the Royal Guard showed up, the Kids weren´t punished, peaceful protest could be ignored after all but curfews and increased patrols of the outsider guard did their part in intimidating the populace. After the Mayors press Statement the officials stopped giving a damn about public opinion and even the own Police of manehattan was being kept inside at night.

And here you were regardless, because Thunderstorm promised you that you would be safe and that you´d get coverage of him again. Curfew be damned, you had seen what the Royal Guard understood as noise cancellation, the raid on the storehouse and the gassing of the poor foals fresh in your mind.

You were at the Matriarch Orphanage, a strange place, no one ever seemed to want to go there to adopt, despite authorities insisting it was an excellent place.
Thunderstorm wasn´t one to stand you up, but with things as they were you decided to get a head start. You waved to Film Reel to start rolling, while Safe Sake, your Bodyguard kept in the Background.

"Good evening Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are here tonight in front of the Matriarch Orphanage, on the invite of Thunderstorm we are Meeting him here, it is already past the curfew so I hope you can forgive my hushed tone and-"

"HALT!" a booming voice cut you off looking behind yourself you see three armored Royal Guards marching up to you.
"You are out past the curfew, Vulture. turn that camera off right now."
You had a fairly good idea what would happen if you did that, your Name wasn´t a mystery, and neither was the fact that your interview started all of this.
"Keep running it Film Reel, they wouldn´t-"
"Oh Yeah? Dirt throwers like you are the real Problem, over a personal grudge you try to make a Terrorist a hero. And you know what? Orders be damned, you´re paying for that now." He was clearly either a zealot or a bastard, both of which were lousy candidates to trust with being a Guard.

"NOW!"
Just as you heard that three figures leapt from the wall surrounding the Orphanage, each landing on one of the Guards and proceeding to knock on their helmets till they dropped.
The Guards leader was still Holding on apparently, although pinned by the Pegasus you were supposed to meet.
"You´ll regret this, you´ll burn for this you Piece of filth." he brought out through gritted teeth.

"The only filth i see is the one i´m Walking on right now." a simple but definitely honest rebuttal, followed by another knock on the head and he finally turned to you and your Group.

"I´m glad you came, I have something to Show you, something the Police of manehattan tipped me off about, despite the Royal Guards best efforts." Thunderstorms voice carried through the night, not mocking, not threatening, he didn´t gloat.
"This Orphanage is by far not as great as the paychecks they sign to Keep it silent. We are going to reveal the things the Royal Guard endorses and Celestia doesn´t even care enough to check."
You were on the walk around to the Gate now, and it was too quiet for a News Report, you had to Change that.
"So, uh, who, if i may ask, are the two ponies accompanying you?", he pauses for a second before the Earth Pony mare next to him speaks up.
"I am Metalhead, the other one is called Sapper, neither Name is real but Thunderstorm explained why already."
The third Pony of this strike team, a Pegasus, says nothing, but grunts dismissively as Film Reel puts the camera on him.
"He doesn´t like cameras, bad memories, you understand? Anyways we´re here." Thunderstorm rings the bell at the gate.

Over the Speaker a slightly garbled mare´s voice can be heard:
"Yes, who is there?"
"Foal protection Service, open up right now." Thunderstorm says it without irony, there is really no way of telling what he has planned.
"Come back with a scheduled appointment. *click*" What a bitch, just rudely hung up on someone at their door.

Thunderstorm was apparently expecting that.
"Sapper, this gate and electric fence are in my way, do me a favor and turn it off."
Sapper in turn gave a grunt, a nod and the next second his wings were surrounded by lightning, a zap on the gate and the electricity went out.
"Metalhead, if you please.", the mare said nothing as she turned her back towards the gate and kicked it in, the gate itself was definitely not built to stand without the electric locks.

"Now, why would a good orphanage make such measurements against walkouts? Wouldn´t the foals stay of their own accord?" Thunderstorm put the same question that had been bugging you in words.

Now that you were inside Thunderstorm took the scenic rout taking a look around the facilities, which were clean enough, however except for multiple cleaning Tools there was nothing at all, no balls to Play with no building blocks a few materials to make small trinkets out of, a shower that only ran cold apparently a kitchen that would probably make your own Sub par attempts at cooking look delicious and dorms that looked more like they put the foals on big shelves flank to flank.
You were quickly disgusted by all this, especially seeing how scared the foals were from grown ups, left here they would never grow up decently, you vowed, that as soon as this was over you would dig as deep as possible to bring out the full extent of all this.
Thunderstorm spoke gently to them, you couldn´t hear what he told them but when he moved on the foals were getting up and packing what Little they had.
In one of the dorms however his companion Metalhead paused, two foals perked up when seeing her, she quickly motioned for them to be quiet.
Taking a closer look you realized, that A: Those two were probably hers and B: the younger one of them had red streaks all over his back and backside.
Metalhead was hugging them closely and whispered something to her, you couldn´t hear what it was this time either, but they smiled.

"I believe you and your Viewers have seen more than enough here, time to put an end to it." Thunderstorm spoke again, this time however he didn´t sound pleasant, this time his voice carried a coldness that would freeze a windigo.
He walked off, apparently looking for the dorms of the staff. After finding it he motioned for Sapper to enter. He denied you entry, repeating that Sapper didn´t like cameras.
"I´m going to have a word or to with miss director, i know, that she is in her Office and well awake. Let´s hear what she has to say about the conditions here."

Finding the Office was no difficulcy, keeping a straight face when seeing the riches she hoarded here while giving her charges no more than the barest necessities, and even that was up for debate, prove to be very difficult however.
You could almost swear that Thunderstorm was trembling in fury under his suit and Helmet.

"What is the meaning of this, what is a Monster like you doing in my Orphanage?" Matriarch herself, it seemed, was about as pleasant as you imagined her after seeing the way she ran things.
"There is already a Monster here, if you looked in a mirror once in awhile you´d know that. Enough pleasantries, this place is shut down starting right now." Thunderstorm stated. "We´re bringing them to safety and you won´t stop us."
Matriarch seemed to fidget in her seat uncomfortably. she moved a strange lot, now that she realized what was going on.
Thunderstorm apparently picked up on it too because before you or Film Reel could Point the camera on either him or Matriarch he had already zapped her down.
"Hooves off that Alarm button, Lady. I guess making you admit to everything won´t work anymore anyways, we´re finished here. I´d like a word with you outside, Reporter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside there were many carts parked, unmarked and covered up, the foals from the orphanage practically leaping into them.
"I told you why we fight, but now you saw what we fight against, and what we risk everything for. Look at them and tell me, that this is not worth the risk."
Film Reel took Thunderstorms hint and panned over the thankful foals.
"We will do it, no matter how many Stones the princess is putting in our way. No matter how much the Royal Guard insists on supression. Manehattan is not Canterlot, the ponies here have their own ideas, they are no puppets like the Nobility. Listen up Celestia, the forecast for you and Your rule is a Storm of biblical proportions. You cannot fight against the good of your people forever."
With that final Statement he turned his back to you, telling you that the News recording was over and advising you to get away.

This stallion, you did very much not like to admit it, but you hoped he´d pull you into his Revolution again.

Author's Note:

I may have overdone it with just how bad that orphanage was, but i had to make it the most hellish place imaginable somehow.
So yeah, a trusted seventh in command has appeared. Sapper is reliable and while he can talk he just doesn´t.
And only now that i read through it again i get the Feeling that i may hint on Apple Cobbler having a crush on You, huh.
Penny for your thoughts, even if i don´t have a vote this time.

Comments

[Onidevil]

My only problem with this story is the beginning. The choises were pretty one sided. Play as a mad scientist? Or someone who screams the proper choice for a protagonist!. That may be my view but I consider it true.

[Mr Skeleton]

well it was good, but it could have better. i would have liked some more details on what the orphanage actually looked like, the atmosphere and the likes

[DarkAscension]

Huh...Can't say I'm particularly into Stallions. But a good old fashion Bromance would be fine be me. As for Sapper, I like him. He seems like the kind of Pony who'd just as soon Buck you in the face, as talk to talk with you. A no nonsense kind of Pony, perfect for leading my Rebels.

[DarkAscension]

But for the sake of the story, I can handle a little Cobbler in my life! Unless you introduce a Mare love interest, and a choice to pick between Her, Cobbler, or neither.

[ShadowVR2]

3356604
I can somewhat see what you're saying, and your right. However, some of the experiments he did was for trying to help ponies recover from damage (eg. lost limb), though he was a bit...I can't think of the word I'm looking for, but he was attempting some good and the thing was that he was a little bit loopy.
The 3 main figures all have their qualities, each could have gotten real interesting results. Sometimes I find it is worth going insane, because honestly?
It's fun.
But I'm all for the Bad-ass Pegasus with the elements of nature at the tips of my wings!

...On a side note, 'I' still need a theme song. Now what would be a fitting theme.

[Dostoron]

3356604
3376126
Oddly enough, the votes were not one sided by a Long shot, it was when i first counted one vote lead for Thunderhead, but a comment that i hadn´t seen before made it a tie between him and splicer, also, he isn´t a mad scientist, just a reckless scientist, i guess i didn´t stress that enough.
It ended up being thunderhead because that one couldn´t be counted anymore.

[jolan5]

Add in a little moral ambiguity. Maybe have the reporter witness something that should, for the betterment of the revolution, stay hidden.