Chapter 0 - Nightwatch
“Get your flanks in gear! We’ve got incoming troops at 12 o’ clock!” The ground shook as the explosives crashed down upon the battlefield. It wasn’t always a battlefield, though. At one point, it had been just a field. A field owned by simple farmer ponies. A field of golden wheat, maybe. One couldn’t tell now, seeing as the once-perhaps field of golden wheat was now a desolate pool of bloodshed. The remains of a once humble home of a family of farmers reduced to our only form of defense. What’s going on? Let’s start with a name. Nightwatch.
Born and raised in an area far off the coast of Equestria, maybe you’ve heard of it, Trotland? I grew up in a humble home; raised by my Ma and my Papa. We didn’t have much. Never did. That was fine, though. “We’ll always have eachother,” Ma used to say. Papa would just nod. Now Ma was an earth pony, brown coat, white mane, and the bluest eyes you’d ever see, and she was always good at raising vegetables. Give her a patch of dirt and she’d turn it into a wellspring of produce. Vegetables weren’t the only thing she was good at raising, I guess. I turned out alright.
Papa was a pegasus, blue of coat, brown of eyes and charcoal of mane. Papa was a stern old bastard, always quick to teach me right from wrong with a swift kick to my rear. He used to tell me stories of a place called Zebrica and how he and a few of his old buddies had visited there for a spell way back in his prime. That was all long before the war. Papa would tell me hushed stories about how he ‘tried the local flavors’ of Zebrica whenever Ma was out in the garden. Papa was a stallion who could get along with anypony, which, through a series of confusing events I can’t seem to recall, led him to travel abroad in the first place. But he came back home, met Ma, fell in love and settled down. Then along came me.
I was born a pegasus, just like my Papa, of blue coat and amber mane with eyes to match. I was a playful colt; always getting into trouble with the other little ones at school. Papa would always berate me, and Ma would scold me, but I’d never learn. Such was the life of wee little me.
Eventually, I finished school and did a bit of studying regarding the areas all over Equestria. Papa’s stories were what drove me, I guess. I had maps hung all over my room in the loft of our cozy little home. Ma would always come upstairs and find me sitting on the rug and twisting my neck every which way to read all the maps. There was always one place in particular I’d always fixate upon; a place called Las Pegasus. Just the name sounded inviting, what with being a pegasus myself. I wondered what kind of place it was, and so I delved even deeper into my studies.
One fateful day, I got my ticket to Las Pegasus. By word of mouth in one of the local pubs, I’d chanced upon a piece of very promising information. Equestria was preparing for a war, and the central part Equestria was recruiting ponies from all over in an attempt to gather reinforcements in an inevitable battle. Trotland itself was a neutral country, so us Trottish ponies didn’t concern ourselves with the war the rest of Equestria was facing; but not I. I was going to see Las Pegasus myself, and the military was the easiest way to achieve my goals of traveling. If all went well, I could see Las Pegasus, and the rest of Equestria while I was at it.
Ma wouldn’t have any of it. She chewed me out every day after I’d told my folks I was joining the Equestrian military to fight abroad. “Yer goin’ ta get yourself killed!” She’d say. Papa just gave me a pat on the back and wished me good luck. My mind was made up, and not even the celestial Goddesses could sway me. The day soon came when I’d set out. My papers returned via pegasus mail that morning, and I tucked them in my saddlebag before stepping out the door of our home for, possibly, the last time. There was no telling what exactly I would go through, but I wasn’t going to back down. Papa always said I had his guts and Ma’s wits.
Ma gave me a hug that lasted for about five or so minutes; crying the whole time. Papa just stood there silently. When Ma was done with her goodbyes, Papa gave me that familiar pat on the shoulder. “Take care, son,” he said right before he cracked me upside the head with his hoof. “You’d better write home. Yer mother’ll worry sick and Ah won’t hear the end of it.” I rubbed out the pain and nodded.
And then I took off.
The trip from Trotland to the central area of Equestria was long and tiring. The air-transportation would only take me so far, but the ride made me thankful I wouldn't have to spend the time flying. As the blimp touched down at the last rest stop, I was informed that it was the final stop before the line would be making its return to Trotland. Seeing as how we'd touched down on the edge of the Eqeustrian border, I stretched my wings and opted to fly the remainder of the distance. My wings continued to beat as I soared through the clouds above this unfamiliar landscape, and the time seemed to melt away as I took in the sights. I’d made a mental note to memorize the location of the base I’d be staying at and checked my map. I had to have been getting close. Looking up from my chart, I spotted the camp off on the horizon. With my target in sight and my wings aching; I made a beeline for the earth below. Once my hooves touched down on solid ground, I collapsed.
“Get up, brah. No time to nap,” some stallion in the corner of my vision approached me. He held out his yellow hoof and, after taking a few more moments to suck in as much breath as I could, I took it. “Name’s Hang Ten, brah. What’s yours?” The stallion pulled me to my hooves.
Taking a good look at him, I noted his yellow coat and sandy mane. His eyes were a sea blue and his build was trim and lean. The stallion had a lot of muscle, and his height easily dwarfed my own. To top it all off, a spiral horn protruded from his skull.
“Uh, brah?” Hang Ten snapped me back to attention. “You okay? You were just starin’, brah.” I shook my head to reorganize my thoughts.
“Yeah, Ah’m fine,” I said. “Long flight is all.”
“Whoa!” Hang Ten’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. “That’s a gnarly accent you got there, brah! Where you from?” I blinked. This stallion was quickly getting on my nerves; but he was the first pony I’d met here, so I settled for his company.
“Ah’m from Trotland, mate,” I deadpanned. Hang Ten seemed to hop in place.
“Whoa, brah, seriously?” I nodded. “All the way from Trotland, ya?” Again, I nodded. “...Where’s Trotland?” Yeah. This stallion was definitely getting on my nerves. I shook my head and started walking off towards the main tent to sign in. Hang Ten quickly shuffled up beside me. “Whoa there, brah! You didn’t even gimme your name.”
I stopped in place and looked up at the stallion. He looked sincere enough and seemed like somepony I could get along with. Eventually. With a lot of training. A lot. I shrugged and gave him my name before continuing on towards the tent.
“Welcome to the Capitol, maggots! You are here for one reason and one reason only! To serve and protect! And if serving and protecting means dying for a cause, then by all means, are you maggots ready to DIE?!” Sticking my head through the tent flap, I spotted the source of the shouting. A large stallion clad in what appeared to be an overcoat adorned with various stars and medals was shouting to a group of ponies all gathered inside the tent.
“SIR, YES, SIR!” The group of ponies hollered in unison. The large stallion whom I’d deduced as the general seemed pleased. A grin plastered his scarred brown muzzle, and his cold gray eyes scanned the group before falling on me. His grin disappeared immediately.
“And what the fuck do we have here?” The general started towards me. “A late arrival? Tell me, you little piece of scum, why are you not already seated and settled?”
“Well, ye see,” I started. The massive excuse for a pony loomed over me. I could feel his breath on my muzzle and his gaze bore into my own.
“I see a poor excuse for a recruit is what I see, maggot! Now sit your sorry ass down before I have to raise my voice!” Raise his voice? I was about to offer a rebuttal before deciding it was a terrible idea and gathered my things before taking an empty seat. I looked around and spotted Hang Ten over my shoulder. The sneaky bastard must have snuck in through the back of the tent while I was getting a taste of the general’s fury.
The initiation took most of the afternoon, and after filling out all of the ludacris paperwork necessary, I decided to check out my designated tent. Most of the tents in the yard were identical, save the wooden panels hanging above the flaps indicating the letters and numbers of the tent. T-51b was my tent, and it was easy to tell apart from the rest of the tents. Coincidentally, tent T-51b was the only tent that lacked a wooden panel. In place of a wooden panel was a metal sheet with ‘T-51b’ painted on. It looked vaguely like something one would fashion a suit of armor out of. After tapping the metal sheet to test it’s durability, I concluded that one could make a veritable powerhouse of armor with metal like it.
I opened the flap to my tent and stepped inside. There were three bunks; one directly north of the doorway and two more on the east and west sides of the tent respectively. I tossed my saddlebags onto the top bunk of the bed on the east side of the tent before hopping up to unpack. I’d packed just my papers and some food, which I’d already eaten on my flight, along with my lucky bottlecap. While unfurling my bedroll, I heard the tent flap open.
“Hey there, brah!” My ears perked up and my head twisted around to see none other than Hang Ten walking towards me. “Looks like we’re bunk mates, ya?” I internally facehoofed as the realization hit. Hang Ten dropped off what looked to be a mesh bag down by the mattress just below mine before rolling onto the aforementioned mattress.
“That’s jus’ greaaat,” I replied with just a bit of sarcasm. Hang Ten didn’t seem to care, or he just didn’t pick up on it.
“Haha, you know it, brah,” Hang Ten proceeded to hoofbump the bottom of my mattress and, as a result, knocking me a few feet into the air and onto the dirt floor of our tent. “Oop, sorry, brah.”
“D-Don’ worry about it, m-mate,” I muttered, picking myself up off of the ground. “You don’ kick in yer sleep, right?” I asked, internally begging him to say no. Please oh please say no.
“Uh, not that I know of, brah.” Phew. I spread my wings and lifted myself back to my bunk. I needed some rest after the initiation, on top of the flight here. To be blunt, I was beat. I’d managed to just close my eyes before Hang Ten opened his mouth. “So why’d you sign up?”
“I wanted t’ see the world,” I said over the edge of my mattress. “What’s yer story?” I felt intrigued.
“Well since you asked, brah...” Now I’d done it. “I’m from the coast, ya? Lived my life soaking up the sun and drinking in the waves, ya know?” I didn’t know. “I had the life, brah. All the sweet tanned mares I could ask for. An’ then this war came and my folks decided maybe a little service time would do me some good. So here I am, brah.”
“Lovely story, mate,” I said before rolling back over on my mattress and facing the wall.
“Thanks, brah. You’re a cool dude, ya know?” Hang Ten and I lay there in our respective beds, a silence between us. The tent was getting dimmer as the sun set. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
It had been a few weeks since arriving here. The training was rigorous and quite a few recruits were already laid up with injuries. A few broken ribs here and there and maybe a few stitches on a couple of ponies. This day in particular was a group training session. The goal? Capture the enemy team’s flag and return it to your own base without getting caught. The groups were built up of teams of six from each tent. I was in team T-51b along with Hang Ten and our bunkmates Rapid Fire, a red unicorn mare with a passion for pyrotechnics, Sky Swirl, a klutzy gray pegasus mare, Iron Pyrite, a huge brown earth stallion from a quarry, and Brezaka, a very flexible zebra mare who'd I'd been wary of at first.
“So, everypony is cool with the plan? No offense, Brez,” Rapid Fire piped up.
“None taken, comrade,” Brezaka replied unabashed. Iron Pyrite, Sky Swirl, Hang Ten and myself were all paying close attention to Rapid’s plan.
“We’re going up against tent T-45d. From what Brez tells me, they’re pretty skilled,” Rapid cautioned. “We’re going to need everyone to pull their own weight and then some. Understood?” We all nodded in unison. “Okay, Brez and I will infiltrate the enemy base and take the flag. Iron and Hang, you two guard our flag, got it?” The two aforementioned stallions nodded. Rapid Fire then turned to Sky Swirl and myself. “You two, fly overhead and watch our backs, okay?” I gave a nod and Sky Swirl gave something akin to a giggle-snort.
Sky Swirl and I took to the skies above the training course. The two bases were just hastily made tents on either side of the course. There were plenty of obstacles between the two bases, such as walls of sandbags and cinder blocks and barbed wire. I scanned the course to see Rapid Fire and Brezaka split off into two different paths.
“Look out!” I heard Sky Swirl shout just before she slammed into my side and knocked me out of the sky and into the maze of obstacles. Sky had landed just a few feet away; her wings crumpled in an odd formation.
“What was that fer?!” I snapped. Sky Swirl pointed up at where we’d just been flying right in time for a ball of lightning to ripple through the spot. My ears folded back. Team T-45d wasn’t just skilled; they were a threat.
“Come on, Sky. We gotta warn them,” I hopped up from the spot and shook myself free of dust I’d collected on impact with the ground. Sky Swirl just gave a pained whimper. Her wings were twisted and crumpled pretty badly. She wouldn’t be flying any time soon; not that she was too good at it, from what I’d seen so far the past week. Giving a heavy sigh, I scooped Sky onto my back; holding her up with my wings outstretched. After adjusting to the weight of the mare on my back, I took off down the path I’d seen Rapid Fire go through. The walls were too high to see over and I couldn’t fly with Sky on my back. Eventually, after managing to navigate through what seemed like an eternity of dead-ends, I’d caught up with Rapid. She was hobbling and keeping her weight off of her right front hoof, which looked like it had been snared in a bear trap. She turned her head and snapped at me.
“What are you doing here?” I took a step back.
“They’re firin’ lightnin’ blasts at us. They messed up Sky Swirl pretty bad.”
“Ugh... I can take her back to base. You take it from here, though, got it? Watch yourself,” Rapid hobbled past me and Sky shuffled her weight before sliding down off of my back and standing on her own; visibly shaken by the pain in her wings. I watched the two mares hobble out of sight before turning back to the task at hoof. Some plan this turned out to be.
After a while, I could see the base in the distance. Just a few more corners and I’d be able to get in. Taking a careful step around the safety of the corner, I surveyed my surroundings. Noting that everything was clear, I took off and made a beeline for the enemy base. I felt something whiz past my face before realizing it was turret fire. Rolling off into a nook in the wall, I pushed myself as hard as I could against the safety of cold hard cement.
“WHO THE HELL HAS TIME TA SET UP A TURRET?!” I screamed. I took a deep breath. I could handle a turret gun. Yeah. No. No I couldn’t. Giving a distressed sigh, I looked around the corner again to spot the turret making a sweeping motion back and forth; looking for a target that wasn’t there anymore.
“You distract it. I’ll take it down,” a voice called to me from my left. I tentatively looked to the source and spotted Iron Pyrite cantering towards me. He was supposed to be guarding our flag! Wait, if Iron was here, then Ten was still guarding the base. I facehoofed at the thought of leaving our base in the incapable hooves of such a stallion, but I didn’t have time to complain. Our goal was to get the other team’s flag, and I could use all the help I could get. I nodded in confirmation before diving out into the turrets line of fire; barreling out of the way haphazardly as the bullets whizzed past me. I could just make out the sound of Iron’s hoofbeats as he charged the turret before a loud crash ensued and the gunfire ceased. Looking down the path, I could see the turret was disabled; two large hoof indents in its chassis indicated what had done it in.
“Good job,” I commended Iron as I scrambled down the pathway to where the crumpled turret was. Iron just grinned and nodded.
“We still gotta get that flag,” he snapped back into his more serious demeanor. Nodding in agreement, I looked around us. The enemy base wasn’t far. Waving my hoof, I led Iron around a few corners before we spotted the enemy tent but a few dozen yards down a straight path, completely unguarded. Iron took a step forward. “Too easy.”
A snap ensued and was followed by a cloud of dust as Iron disappeared from view. After the debris cleared and my vision returned, I took a few steps forward to survey the situation. Iron was stuck about ten feet down a hole dug out of the pathway. I snickered in amusement as Iron looked up at me in an unappreciative fashion. “Too easy, indeed, mate!”
“Shut it. Either help me outta here or go get that damn flag!” Iron hollered up to me. I didn’t need another reminder before hopping over the hole (an easy feat with wings, mind you) and careening down the pathway to the tent. The flag stood a few feet in front of me, ready for my taking. With a swift motion, I snatched the flag and bolted out of the tent, flapping my wings to accelerate as I lifted myself a few feet off the ground and sped over the obstacles. I could hear shouting and feel projectile magic being launched at me from the enemy base. They must have been confident that their pitfall was a fail-safe. With the flag secure in my grasp, I sped off towards our own base and touched down.
“Tent T-51b succeeds,” the intercom flared to life the moment my hooves met the earth. I grinned as my team, sans Iron, flocked around me with equal expressions of glee.
A few months later, I had been assigned to a squadron of field soldiers.
“Get your flanks in gear! We’ve got incoming troops at 12 o’ clock!” The ground shook as the explosives crashed down upon the battlefield. The field medic unicorn was attending to some wounded earth ponies a few yards across from where I was huddled down. The general was barking orders to press forward, so we did. The explosives kept coming down around us, and they weren’t letting up. I spotted an enemy soldier aim their rifle across the field, and I followed their line of sight until I spotted their target; one of the field medics. Thinking quickly, I looked around. My rifle couldn’t shoot that far, so I didn’t even attempt to try. Whipping my head around until I spotted one of our own soldiers, a sniper, I dove over and took the weapon. Poor soul wouldn't be needing it now. Raising the scope to my eye, I took aim, and fired. The spray of red had let me know I hit my mark, and upon looking over to where the medic had been, I spotted her treating some wounded pegasi. With a sigh of relief, I turned back to the enemy lines. Just as something landed nearby with a thud and exploded. There was a white light, and then nothing.
. . .
“This… one?” I could hear an unfamiliar voice. Upon opening my eyes, I was momentarily blinded by a white light. My vision blurred, but I could faintly make out the silhouettes of ponies around me. I was laying down, but not in the field. Where was I? Straining to turn my head and forcing my vision to focus, I surveyed my surroundings. It looked like I was in a sort of hospital room, but it lacked windows and had a sort of… claustrophobic feel to it. “It looks like the anesthetics are wearing off,” the voice spoke from somewhere near me. Tilting my head to look behind me, I spotted a scrawny unicorn stallion in a lab coat approaching me. Behind him, a female pegasus in nurses garb exited the room. “How are you feeling, son?” The doctor asked me, not even bothering to take his eyes off of the clipboard in the grasp of his magic.
“Ah cannae feel anything,” I reported. The doctor smiled and nodded, jotting something down on the clipboard.
“Understandable. We pumped you full of anesthetics before subjecting you to testing. I’m surprised you’re awake and able to process and perform speech.”
“Tests? What happened?” I asked aloud. The unicorn took a deep breath and set his clipboard down.
“The field scouts went out to survey the damage on the battlefield. They found you near a crater, and brought you here. My division ran a few tests, and let me be the first to say, congratulations.” I blinked, staring blankly at the doctor.
“What the bloody hell are ye on about?!” I nearly shouted. The stallion backed away a bit and folded his ears back. “Explain ta me what’s goin’ on.”
“W-Well, Mr…” he looked at the clipboard.
“Well what?” I interrupted. “Tell me what’s happening.” The doctor put his clipboard down and gave a sigh.
“After running a few tests on your blood samples, my division has concluded that you are one of few ponies with the genetic makeup that our experimental supplement is compatible with,” the doctor started pacing around the room. “You’ve got the DNA that matches our formula.”
“...In Equestrian, doc?” I piqued. The unicorn turned and looked me in the eyes.
“Simply put, we’d like you to undergo treatment to become Equestria’s new breed of experimental super soldiers.”
. . .
It had been four weeks since I had that fateful conversation with the doctor in the lab. Now I was standing in between two mares in the training room at the underground base of operations that the C.M.C. Division maintained. The mare to my left, Lily, she called herself, was a yellow unicorn with a bright red mane and matching tail. Her mane and tail were rather unkempt, and her eyes were pools of ruby under her matted hair. The mare to my right, Angelica, was a pegasus like me. Her white coat and blonde tail and mane were prim and rather regal looking. Her sapphire eyes showed a perfect contrast with Lily’s.
Over the short course of our training sessions, I’d managed to bulk up a bit. I stood a bit taller than my teammates, but overall maintained my slender physique.
“Alright, soldiers,” the doctor called our attention and we snapped up into a presentable posture. The doctor present was a unicorn mare. Her glasses rested just at the edge of her muzzle. Pulling her clipboard up and going over her notes, the doctor dictated our orders. “Alright, so Subject A will be doing magic stamina training for today, please report to room 121b.” Lily nodded and cantered down the hall. I couldn’t help but let my gaze follow her. She had a damn fine flank. “Ahem. Subject B?” I snapped out of my daze.
“Wha?” I blinked in rapid succession. The doctor frowned and smacked my muzzle with her clipboard.
“I said Subjects B and C will report upside for flight training,” she scoffed. “Honestly, B, you don’t pay enough attention in class. I’m surprised you haven’t flunked out of the experiment yet.
“You don’t give him enough credit, ma’am,” Angelica spoke up. “He’s been quite reliable in field tests despite his lack of academic aptitude.” The doctor looked over her notes again and nodded.
“You make a point, C. But,” the unicorn stuck her muzzle in my face and gave me a stern look. “All brawn and no brain does not a good soldier make. Dismissed.” The mare turned and stepped through the double-doors back to the lab. Angelica put a hoof on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going to let you flunk out of the program,” she reassured me. I couldn’t help but grin and nod my thanks before we made our way topside for flight training.
By the end of the day, my wings were just a bit sore. At first the training was brutal and left me feeling dead halfway through the day, but after the daily sessions, my wings were starting to get used to it. Angelica and I met with Lily back in the mess hall, where we were surrounded by various ponies in their lab coats. The downside of being in a large facility centered around medicine and science was that I was surrounded by doctors and nurses. The upside to being here was that my only company was Angelica and Lily. Two mares, one stallion. I wasn’t about to complain.
“How was your training, Lil?” Angelica attempted smalltalk as I dug into my daffodil sandwich. Lily had just swallowed a bite of her own meal before replying.
“My forehead is numb, but I have a feeling the results were above par. How about you? How’d you and Blue do?” Lily nudged my shoulder.
“Oy, jus’ because my coat’s blue dunnae mean ye can call me that,” I retorted. Angelica and Lily had a collective laugh at my expense. I grumbled and dug back into my sandwich.
“Oh, calm down. It’s not like you’ve told us your real name, anyway,” Angelica defended. I shrugged and continued to devour my sandwich. Angelica huffed before turning back to Lily. “We managed to do increase our average. We’re both up two laps from last week.” Lily gave a whistle. I spaced out and continued to absentmindedly munch away at my meal until there was nothing left. As soon as I swallowed the last bite, the bell rang indicating it was time for everypony to return to their stations. Hopping up from my seat, followed by Lily and Angelica, I turned and trotted back to the lab with the two mares in tow.
The evening training was a team session with all three of us working collectively to achieve a common goal. Tonight’s goal was to rescue a captive soldier while keeping attention to ourselves a minimum. Lily had cast a spell to silence our hoof steps. The three of us split up and surveyed our respective surroundings. The training ground was a large hanger with cargo crates acting as a sort of maze. My mind drifted back to that day with tent T-51b. Snapping out of my reminiscence, I looked around each corner before proceeding. Rounding another corner, I spotted Lily and motioned for her attention. She looked my way and tilted her head before I signaled down the long pathway ahead of us. Lily nodded and her horn flared up as she cast her magic down the pathway, illuminating a few tripwires and mines along the corridor. We scurried down the pathway, clamoring over the tripwires and avoiding the mines before reaching a large cage with a dummy inside. Like a bolt from the blue, Angelica swooped in behind Lily and I, motioning us aside and stretching her wing out. With defined grace, she pulled a bobby pin from her downs and proceeded to pick the lock on the cage, opening it with practiced speed. Lily offered to carry the dummy back to the base while Angelica and I kept vigilant for more traps. I thought it strange that we hadn’t run into any-
“Turrets!” Angelica held her hoof out to halt Lily and I. Well that was uncanny. The three of us had stuck to the wall. “We’ve got to take those things out… I wonder if they were set up after we’d gotten to the cage”
“Makes sense,” Lily piped up. “Give us what we came for but don’t let us leave.”
“So how do we get rid of those things? There are two out there, one on each side of the path. We’d get shot at from both sides if we went out there.” That gave me an idea. Grinning to myself I stepped past Angelica. “Where are you going?”
“I have a plan,” I stated simply before diving into the turrets line of fire. I strained my ears until I heard the familiar beeps that indicated the turrets had locked onto their target. Without a moment of hesitation, I dove out of the way just as the two turrets started firing. At each other. I heard the sound of bullets digging into metal and then nothing. A few seconds later, two simultaneous explosions. Angelica and Lily walked past me as I took a bow.
“Nice work, Blue,” Lily remarked. I just grinned and followed suit.
Once the test was completed, the two mares and I made our way back to our living quarters. We’d been told by the lead doctor that we would be going to sleep for a while tomorrow. It was the final stretch in the procedure, and we would be under sedation for about a month as the doctors placed us in cryogenic tanks and applied the necessary chemicals to enhance our physical and mental state. The final test. When we awoke, we would be Equestrias first batch of super soldiers. The thought floated around in my head as I lay on my bed. A knock from my door stirred me from my thoughts. Rolling from my mattress, I cantered over to the door and opened it.
“Angelica? What are ye doin’ he-” I stammered before she brought her hoof up to my muzzle, shushing me. Angelica opened the door a bit more, enough so that I could see she wasn’t alone. Lily was there, right behind the pegasus. Angelica stepped inside with Lily in tow, letting the door close shut behind them. I stood facing the door for a moment before turning around on the spot and shout-whispering. “What are ye two doin’ here? Ye’ve got yer own rooms an’ it’s already after lights out! Ye better have a good reason fer bargin’ in like this.”
“Do you mind if we stay here tonight?” Lily asked. My ears perked up.
“What?”
“Do you mind if Lily and I stay with you tonight?” Angelica replied. “It’s our last night before the test tomorrow, and we thought we should spend it together…” Lily only nodded in agreement. I gave their speech some thought and sighed.
“Fine, ye can stay.” I crawled back onto my bed and curled up. Lily and Angelica crawled up onto the bed and nestled around me. “Is there sometin' that Ah’m not gettin’?” I questioned. Lily nuzzled me and smiled.
“We just wanted to spend some time with our little brother.” My ears perked up.
“Little brother?” I lifted my head to look between Lily and Angelica. Angelica smiled and nodded, holding her hoof out. Lily placed her hoof on top of Angelica’s and motioned for me to join in. I hesitantly placed my hoof atop the two mares’.
“From here on out, we’re family.” Angelica spoke softly. I felt a bit choked up and my vision blurred a bit before I nestled in between my new sisters and drifted to sleep.
The next morning I awoke with Lily laying across my torso and Angelica laying across my hind legs. Suffice to say, getting out of bed was out of the question in this position. Flexing my wings in frustration, I lifted Lily up and off of me before pulling myself out from underneath Angelica, tumbling onto the floor and waking the two mares in the process.
“Nnm… Morning, Blue,” Lily mumbled. Angelica just yawned.
“Five more minutes,” she muttered before laying back down. I shook my head and clapped my hooves together to wake the two mares up. Lily jumped up in shock and Angelica just about launched herself off the bed entirely. I grinned.
“Alright, Subject A, please enter,” the lab assistant motioned Lily towards the first of three tanks. Lily gave Angelica and I a look before nodding to us and climbing into the tank. “Subject C.” Angelica gave me a nuzzle before climbing into her own tank. “Subject B.” I nodded to the assistant and turned to face my own tank. The tanks were large and fitted with all sorts of technical gizmos. There was a thick glass window in the front for the scientists to observe us from. Taking a deep breath and stepping inside, the doors closed and sealed. The assistant’s voice came over the intercoms fitted inside the tanks. “Alright, we’re ready to proceed.” The tank started to fill with some sort of gelatinous green liquid. “Please remain calm. This gel will sustain you while you undergo the process.” The gel filled up to my neck, and I strained to stay above it. It filled the tank entirely and try as I might to hold my breath, I sucked in some of the gel. Oddly enough, I could still breath. My vision started to blur a bit as I felt, what I assumed, was the effect of the gel. I felt tired, but vitalized. My eyes slowly drifted shut and the last thing I heard was the voice of the assistant. “Goodnight.”
I dreamt of explosions and destruction.
I dreamt of war.
. . .
What the hell was that beeping? My head was pounding and I felt stiff. Was this how I was supposed to feel? A super soldier with lethargy? I strained to open my eyes and was greeted by the familiar green gel. Beyond that, though, was a now clouded window. Beyond that, I could make out a few small lights in a darkness. The beeping wasn’t stopping, and it was getting on my nerves. Lifting my forehoof up to the door, I pushed gently. Nothing. I pushed a bit harder. Still nothing. Pulling my hoof back and winding up, I slammed it into the door, feeling the door unseal as the tank started to fill with bubbles of stagnant air from the outside. With a continuous push, I opened the door completely as the gel drained out onto the floor.
I coughed and hacked as I took in a few breaths of actual air, doubling over and vomiting out some of the gel in the process. Either my vision was damaged, or the room was indeed dark. I wondered who’d turned the lights out. I tried calling out to somepony. Anypony, but my voice wouldn’t come. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room as I made my way across the floor, feeling papers and documents and tools strewn across the lab. What happened here? Where was everypony? And where was that beeping coming from?
I followed the sound into the next room and spotted a computer terminal at a desk. The screen flickered, almost as if it were trying to grab my attention. I made my way to the terminal and eyed the words on the screen. Test subject A: Status: Critical Error. Test subject B: Status: Tank Open. Test subject C: Status: Critical Error.
The screen flickered once more before it went blank. I stared into the screen for a bit longer, taking it all in. Turning my head back and bolting out of the room, I ran back to the tanks, slamming my hooves into the door of Lily’s tank. I kept pounding away at the door until I felt the seal break. Tearing the door open and letting the gel flood out, I quickly snatched up Lily. Her face was calm and serene, like she’d been asleep. I shook her. No response. I shook her again. Still no response. I felt tears well up in my eyes and I pressed my ear to her chest. No heartbeat. I clung to Lily as the tears fell from my face. After a few moments, I looked over to Angelica’s tank. Setting Lily down carefully, I stepped over to face Angelica’s tank and started slamming my hooves against the door, trying to break the seal. The seal broke and I pried the door open, but no gel spilled out. Instead, the thin, lifeless body of that familiar white mare tumbled out. I turned away and let more of the green gel spill from my mouth as I vomited again.
Pulling Angelica’s body into my hooves, I looked down on her face. The tank had kept her intact, but with the lack of preserving gel, she’d already started to lose weight. The pegasus had barely any meat on her bones. The door of her tank lay askew on the floor, and looking over into my own reflection, I got another unwelcome surprise. Where my brown mane was, a thicker, blue mane had taken its place. My eyes were devoid of pupils; clear white orbs staring back at me. My coat had turned darker and was now a charcoal gray. I looked over myself to see if anything else had changed. Where my hind hooves were, there were three-clawed talons of sort. My tail was no longer brown, nor was it blue like my mane. I wasn’t sure if I could even call it a tail. From the base of my tail to about three feet or so was a long, serpentine tail. Flexing it a bit to see if it really was my tail sent another shock. The end of my tail had split into two jagged jaws. I concentrated, and the jaws snapped shut. With a bit of panic, I lurched my head back and flexed my wings. They were still there, thank Celestia. Though the same charcoal color as my coat, I still had my wings.
After a deep sigh, I carefully hoisted Lily and Angelica onto my back before making my way out of the lab and up the stairs. The entire facility was just as the lab was. Dark, decrepit and abandoned. I made my way topside and was greeted by a stagnant air. The world around me looked more decrepit than normal; void of life as far as I could tell. Just what the hell happened? I carried the two mares for a while before I found a suitable spot. I dug for hours before I was satisfied, and I carefully laid my sisters into the ground before covering them up and bidding a final farewell.
I walked for what seemed like hours. The night sky flitted overhead. The land was indeed devoid of most life. I spotted a few ponies off in the distance and tried to get their attention. Their clothing seemed rather tattered and torn, and they looked to be brandishing weapons. As I made my way closer, I managed to grab their attention. Looks of horror flashed across their faces before they started firing their weapons at me. Instinct took over, and I was upon them in seconds.
As the feral impulse died down, two ponies lay bloodied and dead. The third, pinned underneath me, looked up at me in horror as my senses returned.
“Wh-What the fuck are you?” The stallion muttered. Blood dripped down my jaw onto his cheek. I could see a large gash in his throat and I managed to put two and two together. Stepping back and away, the stallion shouted. “What in Luna’s name are you?!” The stallion coughed, and blood speckled into the air around him before he went limp. I noticed a wagon the three ponies must have been towing. I looked around in their wares until I spotted a few things that interested me. A .308 sniper rifle and a .44 magnum revolver. There was an overcoat and a some saddlebags in the wagon as well. Pulling the coat on and securing my weapons at my sides, I trotted off. Angelica and Lily alongside me, I kept walking.
I headed west.
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I liked it, good story. Though, I would like to see more of it.
You should separate the narration from the "on-screen" information like status updates, which are occuring exactly like this in the characters mind/(s)he reads it. Like this:
I think you should space your story aka breaking up the huge paragraphs. Do a space line whenever a unit of meaning ends. You do it already
Your larger gaps are already indicated by a space line,but I think you should get some kind of indicator instead. Something like xxxoOOoxxx.
I would also recommend scratching the huge empty space in between the two larger sections of the text.
Those are just formatting suggestions.
Is the last part happening in the wasteland (resulting in some time of stasis-pot story)? Just curious.
This story looks good so far, I would like see how it continues. Keep writing.
4806096
Thanks for your feedback; it's much appreciated.
I did look into editing the spots you pointed out, and I hope that makes the story flow better.
To answer your question; yes, the last part is taking place in the wasteland after Nightwatch leaves the facility.
Again, thanks for your feedback.
4798937
This was actually intended as a prequel of sorts. I wrote this intending to introduce this characters origin.
Nightwatch was originally supposed to debut in another Fallout Equestria story, however the other two authors have decided to put that story on hiatus in favor of finishing a few of their other projects.
I may continue this story further, though, because there's a large time frame between the end(?) of this story and Nightwatch's first appearance in the previously mentioned project.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and if I can I'll continue this story.
Haven't read it yet, but I will soon! I can't wait to see where this goes. Also, if a few certain things still happen, it'll tie in nicely with the next story Night appears in