> Fallout: Equestria - Stars
>  by AniMun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello, my friends! Are you ready to share stories until this night's end?" I asked the children, ponies, zebras, griffons, alicorns and dragons all around the bonfire. The moon was bright and stars painted the sky with their beauty.

"Yes!" the children shouted, eager to hear tonight's story.

"Ah, I see you are all eager to start, but I need to ask, do you know about the spirits and the stars?" Seeing their confused expressions, I stood up, gathered some powder from my bag and threw it on the fire, creating a purplish - green smoke, soon enough, the smoke began moving creating images within it.

"Our world is filled with magic, some say it is because of the spirits, good or -"

"That's right! you can all thank ME for making the world such an awesome place!" Soon after the voice was heard, a spirit of chaos also known as a draconequus, appeared through the smoke with fangs to bare, scaring the children.

"- tragic…" I rolled my eyes. "Friends this is Ishwa, with threatening looks regardless, she is harmless." They still were a bit cautious, but they relaxed again.

"Humph!" Ishwa whined, faking indignation, she levitated to the back of the crowd and laid outstretched, her leopard body was so long I could still see the end of her gaboon viper tail with lion fur on the tip from one side, and her quagga head with a long mane and gazelle horns from the other.

"So, like I was saying before Ishwa came delaying…" Ishwa smirked, beckoning me to continue with her hyena paw. "They are of different kind and size, to deal with them you must be wise, some are lesser spirits, weak and small, they cannot be seen at all, others are greater spirits, big and strong, they usually are the reason something went wrong." I tilted my head to Ishwa, making the children laugh.

"Some are good, some are vile, having one as a friend, can be worth your while." Again, I tilted my head to Ishwa, making her blush and the children giggle even more at her.

"Some other spirits are just awesome incarnate, like me!" Striking a pose, deviating the attention away from her light blush.

"But sir, what about the stars?" A filly asked, raising her right hoof.

"A good question, you see, the stars are home to as many spirits as can be, they are the reason this story, I can weave, I and the stars are akin, but for now, let the story begin!" Cheering followed my speech.





Footnote: Character Sheet

Name: Zhausikuitri "Zhau"

Strength: 7
Perception: 4
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 7
Intelligence: 5
Agility: 6
Luck: 1

Tagged skills: Barter/ Survival/ Unarmed

Traits:
Chaos Conduit: You have a Spirit of Chaos bound to your soul! You and everyone around you have a greater chance to miss, and every miss has a chance to critically miss.
The Curse of Power: Who said the power you got was free? You have a 25% increased spiritual power, but every fourth level you'll gain a curse.
> Chapter 1 - Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darkness, that was my world for a couple of minutes. Then came a sharp pain all over my body, like I phased out of existence and now was being put back together cell by cell. I regained touch. I was lying in what felt like dead grass and dry dirt. I could feel the smell of decaying trees, and that distinctive scent when it's about to rain. My vision returned as a green and yellow blur.

‘So, how is it like to shadow shift for the first time?'

My focus adjusted and the blur turned to two cocky looking eyes, eyes I knew too well. ‘Painfull.'

Ishwa was hanging on top of my head, upside down, her face almost glued to mine, she laughed and slid down my snout, floating ahead of me, a catalog and glasses appeared out of thin air. She put the glasses on and started searching for something in the catalog.

‘Maybe next time you should ask a spirit of air or a Spirit of Fate for help, instead of a Spirit of Shadows… You could even have made a wing talisman and fly over here!' She said, throwing the glasses and catalog away only to disappear into thin air again.

‘I didn't have the ingredients for a wing talisman, neither could I have summoned a greater spirit like a Spirit of Fate. I tried summoning a Spirit of Air but something went wrong for some reason.' I deadpanned, looking at Ishwa with accusatory eyes while I stood up.

‘What could possibly be that?' Ishwa said, wearing a white dress and a golden halo.

Now that the pain was gone and my senses were coming back again, I took in my surroundings. Withering trees with a few yellowing leaves swaying in a cold breeze. I looked up, the sky was completely gray, it was going to rain soon. I needed to find shelter. ‘We better get moving before a storm catches us unprotected.'

Ishwa levitated to my saddlebag, it was bigger than a camping pack, with the traditional two packs on the sides and a third one in the middle. One could almost carry its entire house inside it, and by the noticeable bulge it had from all the random things I was carrying from my homeland it was really heavy! Sitting in the middle section with a beach chair and umbrella, she announced, ‘Lead the way!'


*** *** ***


The road was a constant of twists and turns of an old river, dried long ago. A moment later, Ishwa grabbed a scroll and quill and asked, ‘Let us review what we have in our inventory, shall we?'

‘A Spirit of Chaos, wants to make an inventory?' I was surprised by such notion, a being that spread chaos wherever it went wants to organize something?

‘If you remember, my part of our deal requires that I protect you and "keep you safe", to do so, I have to know what you have in that black hole you call a saddlebag in case you need it in battle.' Exclaimed Ishwa whith a dismissive wave.

‘Yeah, because making me carry bad luck everywhere I go is a pretty good way to protect me.' I smirked.

‘Well, that was your part of the deal, deal with it. Now let us begin.' Ishwa retorted, showing her long serpentine tongue.

The walk continued for some hours, Isha's checklist only lasted for fifteen minutes, so the rest of the trip she spent asking "Are we there yet?" When she asked it for the 500th time, The path ended in a denser part of the forest, in a nearby tree was a glyph carved into its trunk, a zebra glyph.

‘Isn't that a glyph to mark a nearby encampment?' Ishwa asked, teleporting closer to inspect the carvings.

‘Looks like it, let's follow it.' Deeper into the forest we went. Following the glyphs, not long after, we found what we were looking for, an old zebra scout team's encampment. It was composed of a single dome made of wood, clay and foliage for camouflage, big enough to house a squad of ten to twelve zebras. Judging by the brown - grayish leaves, it was pre-war.

‘What is it doing here in the middle of nowhere?' Ishwa seemed confused.

‘If it's here, there must be a pony city nearby…'

Sure enough, three ponies walked around the hut, a yellow unicorn, a blue earth pony and a white earth pony, their clothing was… weird, kinda pointy and crappy, like they stitched pieces of rag together and added spikes. They saw me and stopped in their tracks.

Ishwa sat on my back and said, ‘Time to see if your Equestrian is good.'

"Hello pony friends, please do not be alarmed, let us share some stories over some drinks and games" With a wide smile, I approached them, getting a closer look, I found something strange, they had pinprick eyes and crazy smiles, eyeing me like they hit a jackpot. 

Suddenly the unicorn draws a shotgun, firing at me.

‘Take cover!' Ishwa shouted, flying high into the sky to get a more tactical view.

I threw myself to the side, most of the shots stopped by my hide armor. That shotgun had to be old and in disrepair, anything stronger than that would have pierced my barding.

‘Two coming your way from the sides!'

‘Got it.' Counting to three I positioned myself and bucked hard to the left, hitting the white pony in the face, the blue pony dove me from the right, with a knife in his mouth. I forced my back legs to the ground in a sitting position, grabbed his mane with my teeth and threw him with my hooves. He fell on top of the white pony, knocking him to the ground again.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Screamed the unicorn between mad laughter. Charging me from the right, spraying lead everywhere, I tried to get out of the way, but one of his shots hit me in the hind left leg. The pain was sharp, my leg felt like burning, full of tiny holes from the lead. In my haze, I didn't notice the earth ponies were back up.

"Mother fucker!" The white pony kicked me in the side. I heard a snap, my rib was broken! Breathing was hard and painful. While I was grasping for air,  the blue pony kicked me in the face, knocking me to the ground. Before I fell on top off my saddlebag I turned and landed on my broken rib! Moaning in pain, I tried to protect my saddlebag with my hooves.

"You're dead now BITCH!" He pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.

I could smell a strong scent of gunpowder and took cover in a fetal position. He pulled the trigger again, the shotgun exploded! Killing him and the blue pony next to him. The white pony was sent to the ground in pain, shards from the shotgun pierced his chest, but not deep enough to be lethal.

‘Dagger!' I shouted to Ishwa, who swiftly levitated to my bag, grabbed the dagger, and threw it to me as I was up and running for the fallen pony.

With my dagger now tied to my tail dreads, I was on top of the pony before he could react. Fear resided in his eyes as he saw their friends heads turned to a red pool of gore on the ground. "Please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" he cried.

I looked around, he had no weapons, he had no friends and probably didn't want to fight anymore. With a flick of my tail, I slashed him on the side, a superficial wound of warning. "Go away." I stepped away from him.

He ran as fast as he could, disappearing behind the trees. With the threat gone, my adrenaline rush subsided, only to be replaced with a pounding pain. My leg was shot, my rib was broken, my nose was bleeding, everything hurt! I limped to a nearby tree and sat down under it.

‘Such a warming welcome hum?' Ishwa brought my bag close to me. Once close, she got a white - yellowish powder wrapped in leaves and a flask with pink liquid.

‘Yeah, no wonder we blew each other centuries ago…' I applied the powder to my leg, feeling a sharp sting as It made contact with the wound. When I drank the potion the pain was quickly gone. ‘At least we have a place to stay.'

‘Better go inside, it's starting to get dark.'

‘Can you scout the place for me please?'

‘Eh, that's what I'm here for isn't it?'

A few seconds later, the pain was much more bearable. My nose bleed stopped and my rib was ok. I tested my leg, putting weight on it, it still hurt, but now I would be able to run if necessary. While waiting for Ishwa to return, I searched the bodies, they were caring some empty syringes and a lot of bottle caps (bottle caps? Ponies are so weird). My search was interrupted when I heard Ishwa call.

‘Hunm… Zhau?'

‘Yes?'

‘You better see this…'

Weird. I put on my saddlebag and walked to the door, Ishwa was waiting for me next to it. With a slight crouch, I slowly opened the door. The inside was a small room filled with twelve beds with lockers on their feet and random garbage spread everywhere. There were two wooden doors, one to the left and one up front.

Ishwa looked worried at the front door. ‘That room…'

If a spirit of chaos is worried, there can only be trouble in that room. I rested my bag in the clay wall, readied my dagger and opened the door in one quick swing.

That was a mistake, the smell was unbearable, there were rotting corpses everywhere! Body parts were pinned to the walls like some kind of monument, a hollowed torso laid on a table, and the ground was a pool of blood (Did they eat these ponies?!). In the corner of my vision, I saw a little twinkle, there was a small crystal shoved in the eye socket of a severed head.

‘That looks like a memory prism, you're not planning on getting it, are you?'

‘... that may have valuable information.'

‘Gross. I'll keep watch then, wash your tongue after you take that thing out!'

I approached carefully to not trip on any… pony. I examined the crystal and took it with the point of my teeth, trying my best to not let my tongue touch it. Once out of the room, I closed the door behind me, never to be open again.

‘What now?'

‘Maybe we can find something useful in those lockers, I'll search the ones to the right, you get the ones on the left.'

I wiped the blood out of the memory prism with my hide armor, placed it in my bag and went to scavenging. From the twelve lockers, three were locked, six were empty and the remaining three were filled with trash and random equipment parts.

That left the door on the left wall. I gestured to Ishwa to scout the room for me. When she returned and confirmed it was safe I tried opening the door. Locked.

‘Must be hard not being able to simply phase through objects right?' She smirked.

‘Well… the wooden door is centuries years old, but the clay walls are as old, I'm afraid I might break the walls if I buck the door, especially with you around.' I joked, not willing to take the risk, I went to my bag and retrieved my dagger, with luck, I could take the door out of its hinges.

Emphasis on luck, because as soon as the door was free, it fell inwards and crashed into a chemical station, breaking everything.

‘Why?' I whined.

‘I ask that myself from time to time.'

The room was some kind of workshop, with worktables, reloading benches, and a late chemical station. Who would put the most fragile set of equipment just behind a door?!

‘Forget it, it's late, and I have to sleep for the healing powder to make effect so I'll see what is left of it tomorrow. Can you keep watch as I sleep?'

‘Aw come on, that's so boring!' Ishwa complained, crossing her arms and turning around.

‘Please.'

‘Ok, ok!'

With that, I flipped the mattress to the other side, (despite being on the dirt, somehow the underside was cleaner than the upper side) and went to sleep.


*** *** ***


"Look at all this stuff, we found a motherload!"

"What's inside the chest?"

"Who cares? Let's just kill him and sell his stuff in the city"

"Shh! I think I saw him move…"

I woke up to whispers coming from inside the house, Ishwa should be…

She was sleeping just next to me… Great. Turning around I spotted the white earth pony from yesterday, grabbing my saddlebag while his friend advanced towards me.

"Rise and shine sleepy head!" said the new brown earth pony, grabbing his makeshift lance and running towards me.

Fuck. I rolled to the side avoiding his plunge. Looking around, there was nothing I could use to defend myself. ‘Ishwa!'

‘What? I'm awake!' She jumped.

The brown pony charged me again, throwing me to the wall, cracking it.

‘Go to the workshop room, find a weapon!' She flew fast toward the room, when the brown pony shoved me again, knocking the air out of my lungs. He tried to stab me, but I was able to dodge it, (well, not "dodge it" more like slid to the side while trying to catch my breath).

‘There's nothing there!' Returning from the room, Ishwa was panicking.

Looking at the lockers, I remembered. ‘There was an empty syringe in the locker, get it!'

The brown pony tried to stab me again but hit the crack in the wall instead, his spear was stuck. I kicked his back legs, knocking him on top of me and I locked my legs around his neck, choking him.

Desperate for air, he tried to hit my sides multiple times. I kept blocking until he kicked my wounded leg, making me weaken my grip.

He headbutted me and flipped, now I was being choked on top of him.

‘Here!' She threw an empty syringe to me. I grabbed it with my mouth and stuck the needle in his foreleg, feeling him loosen his grip, I rolled to the side, got his spear and pierced his right shoulder, pinning him in place.

‘Let's get out of here.'

‘Your bag's not here!'

And neither was the white pony…

Sprinting out of the hut, I saw the white pony running into the woods with my saddlebag strapped to his back.


*** *** ***


The chase was on!

The terrain was uneven and hard to travel, the trees were making it hard to maneuver, but the weight of the saddlebag was slowing him down!
He made a sharp turn right, I almost got him, but there was a sudden bump on the ground that made me trip and fall.

‘FUCK! Ishwa, what direction is he going now?'

Flying high to spot him she said, ‘He's still going right, downhill, there's a small slope you can jump and catch him!'

‘Got it.' I was on my hooves and running in a split of a second, I saw the slope and jumped, not even bothering to see if it was safe to jump. Sure enough, I was just ahead of him!

Bracing for impact, I rolled when I hit the ground, raising a small cloud of dust from the dry, compacted dirt. I spun around and charged the white pony, giving no time for him to react.

"PLEASE, I'M SORRY! DON'T HURT ME!" He begged.

I let him go once, he's not running away now.

I hit his head with my hooves, again and again until he passed out, he wasn't dead, just unconscious.

‘You know what they did to those ponies back at the hut, are you sure you want to let him live?' Ishwa asked with an arched brow.

‘I don't take lives that are not necessary, now let's try and find the city.'

I checked my saddlebag, everything was safe, putting it on, I turned to walk when I noticed a weird machine, just hovering there in the middle of the road.

"Wow, that was… intense?" it said with its metallic voice, surprising me.

"You can talk?"

"Well, I just did, didn't I?"

"Sorry if I was rude, but please give me a clue, what are you?"

It took a moment for it to answer. "Wow, that rhyming brings back memories, I'm not a robot if that's what you're wondering, I just hacked this sprite-bot, my name is Watcher."

‘Ominous.' smirked Ishwa.

"Well, hello watcher, my name is Zhausikuitri or Zhau for short, pray tell me, is there any city around or the sort?"

"Come again?"

"I'm in dire need to find a city, maybe you can help me and have some pity?" I tried again.

"Oh, the city is south of here, this way" Watcher said, hovering in front of me as I began to follow him.

‘Can we trust this guy? He just sneaked up on us in the middle of nowhere!' Ishwa had a good point.

‘I don't know, but it's not like I have better options.'

"From where did you come from?"

"Zebrica was my home…"

"That explains the rhyming, how long have you been in Equestria?"

"I arrived just yesterday."

"Well, it seems you already have armor, and know how to fight, and I'm happy to give you some directions, but if you want to survive in the Equestrian wasteland, you'll have to make some friends." Watcher instructed.

"I already have a friend, even though she sometimes annoys me to no end."

'Hey!'

Watcher seemed to consider me for a moment, not being able to see Ishwa. "Uhum… well, there's always more opportunities to make new friends."

After a short while, the trees gave way to dry plains, stretching as far as the eye can see, in the middle of said plain I saw a city. Watcher wasn't lying after all.

"Well, my time is running out, good luck out there."

"Thank y-" Before I could finish, the sprite-bot began playing a loud parade music and hovered away.

‘What the fuck?'

‘I know right? Well, we're almost to the city.'

‘Finally! There's nothing to cause chaos here, I need to mess something up!'

‘Try not to destroy the whole thing, I have items to sell.'

‘I'll see what I can do.' An evil smile on her face.

Now that I was closer to the city, I could see it was an old world pony military encampment. Walls made out of train cars and other scrap metals were raised around collapsing buildings. The gate was protected by two makeshift watchtowers, each housing two or three guards.

As I came closer to the gate, all guns were pointed at me. "Stop right there zebra!" A gray earth pony mare with green mane ordered, judging by her barding, she had to be head of the city security.

‘Well, let's see how many bullets you can take before you drop dead. It was nice knowing you…'

Moments later, the mare opened the gate, she walked toward me with two guards behind her.

"Surrender your saddlebag for inspection." She gestured to the guard on her right, who took a step forward.

"May I ask why?"

"Farside City regulations, besides, we don't trust outsiders, especially zebras."

I unstrapped my saddlebag and handed it over to the guard. "Have my people offended you?" She didn't like that question.

"Your people are a threat to everypony in this place, now, hand over any guns you have on yourself."

"I am not armed."

She gave me a nasty look, not believing me one bit, she ordered the other guard to search me. After he didn't found anything, the guard with my saddlebag handed some masks, potions and my chest to the commanding officer.

"What the hell is this shit?" She asked, throwing the masks in front of me.

Picking it up I answered. "Gifts from my homeland, they can scare critters and protect your plants."

"And what about these? Drugs are not allowed here."

"Ah, these are quite good, you can mix then into a fine soup, they are concentrated juice from vegetables and fruits, you can even drink it if in the water you dilute."

She opened a bottle and took a sniff. Feeling the strong scent of apples, she closed the bottle again, putting it away.

"And the chest?"

"That is a family treasure, if you be careful with it, it would be a pleasure."

"Open it."

"The key, I do not have, it was lost during an attack"

She looked to the guards on her side, they were suspicious.

"Please, I mean well, I am just a simple merchant with wares to sell." I plead gazing directly at her eyes.

Rolling her head, she dumped everything back inside my saddlebag, handed it back to me and stepped aside.

"Go on, get out of my sight"

"Thank you."

"Do anything stupid and you're a dead zebra."

I nodded and went inside.

‘My god, ponies are such jerks!'

‘I can understand their worry, being so close to the borders, but yes, that was a bit jerkish. Well, now that we're inside we need to find a place to sleep tonight.' My stomach rumbled.

‘Maybe we should visit the market first…'

‘Well then, to the market!' Ishwa proclaimed, suddenly wearing the old zebra soldier uniform, brandishing a sword forwards.





Footnote: Level up! (2)

Skills Raised:
Melee Weapons: 19
Speech: 22
Unarmed: 43

New Perk:
Adept Wanderer: You gain an additional 10% whenever experience points are earned.
> Chapter 2 - Bottle Caps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bottle caps.

Ponies had enough gems that they used it as ammo for magic energy weapons, but they use bottle caps as currency. What the fuck!?

‘What’s funnier is that just some hours ago you found a pile of what, seventy, ninety? And threw it away like trash!’ Her hysterical laughter has been following me for minutes.

‘Ancestors, I know! Let’s set up shop and we’ll be good.’

Inside the city, old military establishments like armory and supply depot were turned into shops and houses. The marketplace was a big open hangar with booths made out of scrap for the shopkeepers to settle in.

‘Well, where shall we stay?’ Ishwa asked, looking around with a pair of binoculars.

Spotting a guard, I asked him where I could sell my wares.

“Just pick an empty space and set up there. There are no fixed places here, so if you want to come back tomorrow, you’ll have to find a new spot to settle,” The guard explained with a dismissive tone.

“Thank you.”

Five minutes later, I found a good spot. Getting some small wooden planks from my saddlebag, I used them to turn my saddlebag into a makeshift table where I displayed various potions and trinkets from Zebrica.

Wearing a smile, I waited for customers. The market wasn’t empty but wasn't packed either. The few customers that showed some interest in my wares walked away as soon as they paid attention to me.

‘Looks like zebras aren’t liked around here after all.’

‘So, this is pretty cool and all, but I got work to do. See you later!’ With that, Ishwa teleported somewhere else.

Two hours have passed in relative peace, save from the occasional sigh of frustration from other merchants as their stuff suddenly broke or malfunctioned. Courtesy of Ishwa of course.

‘Have mercy on their stuff please.’

‘You should see the look on their faces as they try to demonstrate a device to a customer, only for it to burst into sparks!’ She seemed entertained like never before.

A couple of minutes later, an earth pony mare approached my shop. She had a navy blue coat. A gray mane hid her light blue eyes. Putting a smile on my face, I beckoned her.

“Hello! Welcome to my shop!”

“Look mom! It’s pretty!” I heard a tiny voice say from behind the mare. Searching for the source, I found a little white earth pony filly with yellow mane and tail. She was hiding behind her mom’s gray tail.

She approached the stand to inspect a necklace. Her eyes were blue just like her mother's, but hers still gleamed with the joy of a child, while her mother's seemed tainted by the horrors of the wastes.

“Leave it there sweetie, we don’t have much money and can’t afford it.” Her mother told her. I could feel a certain weight in her words, she must be having a hard time.

“Do you have any rifle ammo?” She asked me when she didn’t find it in my stand.

“I do not have, sorry.”

“What about revolver ammo?”

“Sorry but I don’t sell weapons or ammunition, but maybe to your inventory, my potions can be a nice addition” I gestured to the various flasks and bottles on display.

My rhyming Incited a few giggles from the filly and a raised eyebrow from the mother, but she seemed to understand what I was saying.

“Ok… do you have any healing potions?”

“That I do!” Showing her the flask with pink fluid, she looked a bit unsure. Maybe she expected the mass produced potions from the old world, not a freshly homemade brew.

“How much?” she inquired, examining the potion.

That was a good question. I had no idea how many bottle caps would cost a healing potion.

“How much would you pay?”

Considering the item, “I’m willing to pay fifty caps.”

“Deal”. With these fifty caps, I could afford a bed tonight.

Handing me the caps, she thanked me and was about to leave when I called her.

“Wait. You can have this.”

I handed her the concentrated apple juice.

“And you can have this.”

I took the necklace and gave it to the filly. She grabbed the necklace hesitantly, looking to her mother for permission.

“Why’re you giving us free items?” The mother asked with a bit of suspicion.

“A gift, for first customers.”

“Ok, thanks. Bye.” As they were leaving, the filly waved an enthusiastic goodbye before following behind her mother.

Some hours passed by. No more customers. As I watched other merchants, I realized that business was generally slow.

‘Not a single customer…’

‘Maybe you should try selling your necklace! With that huge pink gem and gold chains, it would grab interest for sure!’ Ishwa joked.

‘Don’t even think about it ever again, you heard me?’ I asked, with a dangerous tone. She went too far with that joke.

‘...’ She was silent. I was too harsh on her.

‘Sorry Ishwa, but you know how this necklace is important to me.'

‘... Yeah, I know. I’m sorry too but, why don’t you keep it locked inside your chest with your other “treasure”. Since it's so precious?’

‘Having it close makes me feel safe. I don’t want it locked away, I only have my “treasure” locked because it's safer that way.'

‘Ok then. So, what’re you gonna do now?’

‘Maybe I should look for work instead of selling my wares.’

‘I think a saw a notice board somewhere nearby.’

‘Ok, I’ll close shop. Search for the notice board please.’

‘Sure thing, boss.’

Putting everything back inside the saddlebag and striping it to my back, I went to the notice board. Ishwa was already waiting for me, inspecting the job offers with a giant magnifying glass.

‘Found anything interesting?’

‘Well, there seems to be a LOT of “Escort caravan” kind of jobs around here.’

‘I just arrived, I’m not planning on going to another city so soon. Any other kind of jobs?’

‘Oh, I found one. “Get rid of insect infestation.” Looks simple enough.'

I took the papers from the board, reading the details about the job.

‘Fuck me…’

‘What?’

‘Look who’s the employer.’

‘“Head of security, Steady Aim.” That mare at the gate?’

‘Yup.’

‘Maybe I should mess with her gun so we can see how steady her aim would be when it blows in her face.’ Ishwa suggested with a malicious grin. She can be really dark sometimes.

‘I’ll just get over it. Maybe she’s in a good mood now.’

I headed to the security office. Sure enough, it was built in an old armory. There I found Steady Aim giving orders to some guards. It seemed like something happened to a trading caravan nearby and she wanted to double the patrol, to the dismay of the guards. She armed the guards and sent them on their way before turning around and noticing me.

“What do you want? I’m busy right now,” she said in a hurry.

“I came for the job,” I replied, showing her the papers.

She stopped to inspect the papers. “Forget it, I have other important things that need my attention.”

“Another reason to give me this job, if the insects persist you might have to face an angry mob.”

She glared at me, pondering for a moment.

“Ok, there are some giant Weaver ants southeast of here. If they get to our food supply, it'll be a disaster. If you can handle them, I’ll pay you two hundred and fifty caps for the job.”

‘Now we’re talking.’

“Got it, I leave now.”



*** *** ***



Following the trail back into the wild, I entered a denser part of the forest. It was hard to maneuver between the trees, they still looked sick, but had more green leaves than the ones I encountered near the zebra encampment.

‘According to Steady Aim, These Weaver Ants can shoot a really sticky “silk” to trap their prey. And they like to eat meat, cool’ Ishwa noted, reading a magazine about arthropods and other creepy crawlers.

‘Looks like the ones we have in Zebrica. Now I know why Steady Aim doesn't like us, Zebrica being cursed as it is, all sort of dangers cross the borders and end up near the city. Being the head of security in a place like this must be very stressful, she’s responsible for the lives of many ponies.’

‘And looks like there are internal conflicts as well. Trading caravans being attacked, I’m sure that wasn’t a random animal.’

‘Yeah. Looks like ponies have their own version of the Hunters Tribe to worry about…’

Distracted by the chatter, I entered an eerie part of the forest, the air felt chiller. Leaves glued together cast a long shadow in the forest, making it difficult to see far ahead.

‘Well, if this creepy place isn’t their nest, I don’t know what is,’ Said Ishwa, putting the magazine away. The feathers in her ostrich wings were standing on end.

‘Stay alert, eyes open and ears up.’

That was the problem, it was completely silent. No wind, no birds, nothing. Suddenly I heard crackles in the leaves. Diving to the side a little too late, a string of silk got my left hind leg, pulling me to the top of the trees.

‘Ishwa get my dagger!’ I unstrapped my saddlebag, which Ishwa caught, hid near the base of a tree and threw me my dagger.

‘I’ll head up and see what got you!’

I tried to cut the silk, but my dagger wasn’t really designed to saw things…

‘WOW, that’s an ant alright. And she’s not alone!’

‘How close is she?’

‘Swing back and forth in three, two, one… Now!’

I did as she instructed. Putting all my weight in the swing, I barely dodged a pair of giant scissor-like mandibles that cut the silk string holding me. My momentum launched me high up, from there I saw that all the trees had a thick layer of silk binding them together like a platform. There were about five ants up there and they were HUGE! Almost one and a half my size.

As I landed on the silk, I made a little bounce and tripped, getting my mane and tail tangled in the silk. The ants were getting closer. 

‘Fuck! I’m stuck! Ishwa, grab something from my bag!’

‘What?’

‘Anything!’

Ishwa went to my bag and searched for anything useful frantically.

‘You don’t have anything that can cut this silk, only your potions!’

The potions! ‘Try finding the concentrated Punga fruit juice! Throw it at the ant in the back!'

The ant in the front tried to chop my head off with its mandibles.  Waving my dagger desperately in its direction bought me enough time for Ishwa to find the potion and throw it at the farther ant.

‘Please work…’

Their antennae were twitching like crazy. Ants respond to pheromone trains, and the punga fruit has a strong scent that breaks these pheromone trails. Punga trees were common sight near zebra villages in Zebrica to chase away insects like these.

The ants started to attack the one hit by the potion ferociously, like an intruder near the hive. Their hard exoskeleton was tough to break, even for their powerful mandibles. 

I freed myself, but now that the marked ant was killed, I was the target again. The ants charged me. I cut the branches beneath me, hoping that the ground would give me an advantage. I rolled when I landed, almost impaling myself on a branch that was stuck in the ground like a deadly spike.

One of the ants followed me, dropping through the hole. Unlucky for her, she landed on top of the spike, puncturing her through the vulnerable joint between her head and thorax killing her. Her sisters were smarter, they were descending through the trees, spitting silk at me.

‘Do we still have any punga juice?’

‘One flask.’

‘Keep it at the ready.’

One silk shot got my front right leg, shackling me to the ground. I was getting sick of those annoying ants, and it was about to get worse. The ant that bounded me, raised her thorax and pointed her abdomen at me. What was she doing?

White smoke escaped the tip of her abdomen as she ejected boiling acid at me! It hit my bound leg, melting the silk and my flesh! The pain was excruciating, my vision was getting blurry and the thing kept melting! I threw some dirt over it in hopes of stopping its advance before it gets to my nerves or bones. At some level, it succeeded.

The third ant tried to bite me. I took the opportunity to stab her exposed mouth, killing her. By reflex, her mandibles snapped shut with full force, puncturing my shoulders and dislocating my left front leg.

I was getting weak, couldn’t stand up and my vision was almost pitch black. I crept away from the other two ants.

‘Healing… powder… leg…. and potion… hurry…’ I pleaded.

Ishwa quickly got what I asked, applied the powder and gave me the potion to drink. Feeling a bit better just in time to avoid another acid spray, I hid behind a tree and hit my shoulder with force against it, popping my leg back into its joint.

‘Ah! Ancestors that hurt!’ I cried.

‘Jump right on three.’ Ishwa warned.

Counting to three, I jumped to my right, landing on top of an ant which went crazy trying to knock me off. I held her for dear life, as the other ant tried to get me off of her sister. 

Losing its patience, it tried to bite me but I jumped off, making her bite her sister’s thorax. I rolled down the second ant and impaled her in the joint between her thorax and abdomen. Four down, one to go.

It sprayed acid at me, missing by a centimeter. I threw my dagger, aiming for her eye. I missed, of course I missed! It head butted me, knocking the air out of my lungs as I hit the ground.

Rolling back up, the ant was trying to bind me with its silk. I kept dodging, looking for the nearest weapon. I ran for the ant impaled in the branch, bucked her mandible off and grabbed it with my mouth. Charging against the last ant, she tried to headbutt me again but this time I was able to dodge and plunge the mandible in her eye, killing her.

‘I hope the payment is good after all this.’ Ishwa commented as I was lying on the ground to recover my breath.

‘It’s not over yet.’ I said over a ragged breath.

‘Come again?’

‘Where are ants, there’s a queen nearby. If I don’t get rid of her, the ants will come back.’

‘Thats not part of the job Zhau…’ Ishwa crossed her paws.

‘But it’s the responsibility I have as a capable zebra. Besides, it’ll be fun!’ I laughed, it wouldn’t be fun at all.

‘You’re crazy, you know that?’

‘Yeah, a friend told me that once. Now let’s get back up the trees and look for stuff that might be useful.’

After searching for some time, we found the melted remains of gears that probably belonged to a pony, long dead. There were four assault rifles fully loaded! The guns themselves were melted beyond repairs but ammo was still intact. 

I unloaded the guns, took the gunpowder out of the bullets and used some coconut flasks I had to make three makeshift bombs, using the silken strands as a wick.

The ant that Ishwa marked with the punga fruit had her exoskeleton almost torn off. It was enough for me to carve out huge chunks of it and make an acid resistant shell that I strapped to my hide armor.I also had the mandibles wrapped in hide stripes and silk to use as a knife in case my dagger gets melted.

With everything ready, a good rest and stocked full of acid and silk glands to sell, I began walking deeper into ant territory.



*** *** ***


The walk was uneventful, thank the Ancestors. But the sweet peace of nature was cut short as soon as I found the nest. It was composed of various trees bound together by even thicker silk, covered by foliage and sticks to make it tougher. The queen was sure to be inside.

‘What's the plan?’

‘There should be around ten or twenty ants down there. If it’s the former, I can lure them out and blow them up with the three bombs we have.’

‘And if it's the latter?’

‘I can use the skull to ask a Spirit of Rage for aid and really blow this place up. Can you scout ahead and confirm their numbers?’

‘Covert ops operation engaged,’ Ishwa said over a radio, wearing a skin tight black suit and disappearing into the forest.

I hid my saddlebag nearby as I waited for her return.

‘It's a young queen. She has about thirteen ants with her, we’re in luck! Oh, that's weird…’ She shivered at the prospect of being lucky.

‘Perfect, in that case, I have a plan,’ I said as I mixed some acid glands with the punga fruit juice, almost doubling its amount.

‘What you need me to do?’

‘I’ll go down there and lure them out. I need you to keep a look out on the ants and warn me when all of them are after me so I can detonate the explosives.’

‘Got it.’

Like I said, I went to the nest entrance and started to cause mayhem all over the place. The ants were furious! I got too close to their queen and they wanted my head for that.

With my ant carapace shell protecting me from the acid sprays, dodging their silk was easy enough. But the ants were starting to catch up to me, and I was getting tired.

‘The queen is alone! They’re all after you!’ Ishwa signaled me. Time to blow these ants.

Lighting the bombs up with a small enchanted gem that I had, I threw them behind me. One by one the bombs killed huge portions of the ant's army until all that was left were smoking carapaces. My plan was working accordingly!

There was a big tremble on the ground, the queen was pissed. She broke out of her foliage hive and was after my life, opting to just melt me with huge sprays of acid instead of using her silk.

The queen’s acid was much stronger than the worker ants, but the shell was holding up. Sort of. I needed to get closer. I grabbed the punga mixture and charged the queen head on!

She sprayed acid in front of me. My shell didn’t protect me as well on my front, so I had to duck. That was what she wanted because as soon as I ducked she got me with a string of silk and pulled me to her mouth. I was about to get eaten alive!

Praying for all the spirits I could remember I threw the mixture down her throat. After a few seconds, the queen began to slow down. Not wanting to waste any opportunity I jumped off of her mouth, unfortunately losing my ant shell in the process.

‘Did it work?’ Ishwa asked, apprehensive.

The queen was idle like she was on a heavy trance. I approached her and pushed her head back with my hooves. She went a step back and stood still again.

‘It worked!’

The same way punga messed up with their pheromones on the outside, it messes them up from the inside. If ingested with their own acid gland, the punga would work as a hallucinogenic plant that completely shut the ant off, turning it into a harmless animal that could be used to harvest silk, for the duration of the punga fruit effects. 

That was a common trick used in Zebrica by villages in the wilds, the presence of the queen would scare off predators, and provide silk for the village to build their houses. The only thing needed, was a constant source of punga fruit, to keep the effects going.

‘What will you do with her now?’

‘I think I'll leave her here, for now, she’ll stay like that for at least a month, which is half the time she can go on without food. Until then, we have a good amount of silk to use!’ I cheered.


*** *** ***


I moved all the corpses of the ants near the queen so she could feed, gathered all the silk and acid glands I could and began my walk back into the city.

Fifteen minutes into the walk, dusk was approaching. I was drinking my last apple juice when a loud explosion went out nearby, scaring my life away and making me drop my juice.

‘What was that.’ I asked while the blood returned to my pale face.

‘It Wasn’t me, unfortunately… I think it was from the south.’

Looking around, I could see a small cloud o smoke coming from the south.

Ishwa looked at my expression and said, ‘Please don’t tell me you plan on investigating it.’

I smirked. She knew me well.

‘Oh god why?!’

‘It isn’t easy being bound to me is it?’ I joked. Smiling even more.

‘Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it…’ she whined.



*** *** ***


Getting closer, it was possible to hear a crazy gunfight going on. I climbed a cliff nearby to get a better look. A Stable was under attack! There were five assailants and one of them was in full power armor.

‘Take a look at the Stable please, I don’t want to take action before knowing who is the bad pony here.’

Some seconds later. ‘The Stable is full of civilians and is lightly armed, there are some wounded there, no deaths.’

‘Thanks. I think it’s time to bring a new friend to the party.’

Looking around my back, I took a zebra skull and wore it like a mask. Feeling my connection with the spirits strengthening, I took a plain wooden board the size of my head and wrapped it with silk. I hid my saddlebag and descended the hill, surprising the attackers.

“Leave the Stable in peace or the wrath of the spirits I will release!” I ordered. 

They decided to open fire instead, obviously.

I dove for cover behind a nearby rock. Their Energy weaponry was terrifying! But now, they are the ones that should be terrified.
I threw the wooden board at their hooves. After a few seconds, it began carving itself into a mask, from which eight giant legs rose from the ground to reveal a giant spider using it. It was a Spirit of Lies

‘Chase them off.’ I commanded the spirit.

The attackers spread out in fear, fleeing from the spider. The heavy armored one stood ground and shot the spider with its Gatling energy gun.

The spider flinched at the attack but did not falter. It weaved a web around the armored pony, locking it in place. The others tried to provide cover fire, only to have their weapons jammed by the precisely aimed silk shot of the spider.

The pony in power armor ejected from it, and ran away, followed by the others soon after. With the threat gone, the spider came close to me. I petted her and thanked for the good job. She soon disappeared out of nowhere, leaving only the mask behind.

‘I can feel its power coursing through me…’ Ishwa said, looking at the mask.

I collected the mask and said, ‘The spirit accepted to serve me and doing so, it’ll lend part of its powers to you.’

‘But won’t it make the deal more expensive?’

‘It did, but I'm willing to pay it.’ I smiled.

‘T-thank you…’ she stammered, blushing a little.

‘Well, Let’s make some new friends!’





Footnote: Level up! (3)

Skills Raised:
Melee Weapons: 24
Speech: 27
Survival: 41

New Perk:
Wild Hunter: In combat, you do 75% more critical damage against animals and mutated animals.

Quest Perk: 
Spirit of Lies: Ishwa has absorbed a fraction of the power from the Spirit of Lies! She can detect lies in dialogues.
> Chapter 3 - New Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who would have thought that summoning a giant spider from another plane of existence would make it a bit difficult to socialize with the ponies you just helped? At least they weren’t shooting me!

“Friends, I come in peace!” I announced to the stable ponies. Again, they didn’t seem to relax.

‘Good first impressions you have there.’ Ishwa teased.

‘Not like I could take out a pony in power armor with bare hooves!’ I countered.

‘Maybe they still think the zebras are at war with ponies? It seems their stable was sealed until now. Also, take that skull out of your face. It will help.’ She deadpanned.

Getting rid of my skull, I gave a weak smile and said, “The war is over!”

“What?” Asked one of the stable dwellers. That sure grabbed their interest.

“We both lost!”

Another pony, a strong looking mare took a step forth, “Why should we trust you? Striped demon!”

Here it goes again with the stripes… “Trust me, you must. If I were a demon, why would I have helped you, instead of letting you turn into pony crust?”

They were a bit confused by my rhyming but seemed to get its meaning.

“Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt, after all, he did just save us from our own Steel Rangers.” An older mare spoke, from the look of the other ponies. She must be their leader.

With her command, everypony lowered their guns, began collecting their stuff and went inside.

“Come with me, maybe you can tell us more about the end of the war.”

“What about the power armor?”

“We’ll come back to get it later if you don’t want it.”



*** *** ***


Inside the Stable, everything was so clean! I’ve never seen anything like that before. Every Stable dweller wore their pristine Stable 80 blue and yellow jumpsuit with pride. The Stable seemed big enough to be able to house up to two hundred ponies, although there were only up to sixty ponies in sight. The walls were filled with posters of a yellow pegasus with pink mane and tail, Along with some rather creative posters about zebras, and how evil and wicked we were. (Go figure.) “Ministry of Peace” logos were branding medical equipment and other supply crates.

While delving deeper within the stable, the air felt a bit heavier. Probably a product of two hundred years of recycling the same air. The “Overmare”, as I was told, led me into some sort of atrium, where the whole Stable was waiting for us. 

Over a couple of hours, I tried to explain what happened to the world, or at least what I was told to me when I was young. During my speech, I learned that this particular stable was sealed much more sooner than the other stables, during the zebra invasion of Crescent Moon Canyon. (So here is where I am, the accursed site where Nightmare Moon school used to be… Wonderful!)

After the speech was over, I was invited for dinner and provided a bed to spend the night. The food was plain and simple rations, with only the most faded taste of apples. During dinner conversation, I learned that this stable had the task of researching the necromantic properties of the pink cloud and try to find a cure. 

They asked me if I knew anything that could help them since my kind created the pink cloud. I said that most of its knowledge was lost after the bombs fell and that most shamans didn’t dare using necromancy, it was a cursed practice.

Dinner was finished and everypony was going to their quarters. They were more relaxed around me but still kept their distance as I went to my bed.



*** *** ***


Next morning I was woken by the clopping of hooves as ponies walked past my door to their appointed schedules. Days in the stable started really early. I was gathering my stuff when I heard someone knocking on my door.

“Come in, please,” I answered.

The Overmare walked in, looking as prim and proper as yesterday, despite the early hours.

“I see that you’re ready to go?” She questioned.

“Yes, I am.”

“I wanted to thank you again for helping us and ask forgiveness for any… rudeness my little ponies might have done to you.”

“They were good ponies.” I smiled.

“Good. Is there any other thing we can provide you as a reward for your actions?”

‘All your supplies and equipment should suffice.’ Said Ishwa, in a zebra war chief tribal outfit.

‘And how would we be able to carry that stuff?’ I asked rhetorically.

‘... Good point.’

I pondered for a moment, maybe they could supply me something helpful.

“Can I have healing potions?” I asked.

“Of course, anything else?”

“A tuft of fur.”

“... What?” The Overmare asked with a really confused expression.

“Tail or mane, fresh please,” I added.

She looked at me with an odd expression, like I was some kind of lunatic or pervert.

“I’ll… See what I can do.”


*** *** ***


Leaving the stable with my new stuff, I set course back to Farside City.

‘No wonder ponies avoid you, weirdo.’

‘Says the spirit that is made of eight different animals.’ I retorted.

‘Asshole…’ She was angry.

‘I love you too. Also, I do have plans for that fur, you’ll see.’

On the way back, I stopped at the weaver ant queen, to see if everything was ok. She was still under the effects of the punga fruit, excellent. I collected a head from one of the workers, as proof that my work was done and striped it to my saddlebag. 

Reaching the city, I was stopped by the guards again, but this time when I showed the head of the ant, Steady Aim let me pass without much trouble.

I was lead to the security office, where I would claim my reward.

“Good work dealing with dose ants, here’s your payment,” Steady Aim said, handing me a pouch of caps.

“Is anything else troubling you?” I asked, dumping the caps in my saddlebag and returning the pouch.

“No, it’s all fine now, you can go back to your business.” She dismissed.

‘Lies.’ Ishwa stated. Looks like her new powers has settled in.

‘Yeah, for sure, thanks for the heads up.’

“Is there any crafting station nearby, without the price being too high?”

“You can find a basic crafting station near the market place. Turn right when you reach the market’s entrance.” Steady Aim said, without paying too much attention.

“Thanks, my friend.” The word friend got her attention.

“Good day.”

‘Lying again.’ Ishwa singsonged. She sure was loving her new powers.

Arriving at the crafting station, I got the fur I got from the stable, a pouch of small bones, two insect-like wing segments and a string made of plant fiber.

Ishwa seemed interested in the wing segments, poking and playing with them.

‘Careful, please. These changeling wings are delicate, and I only have these two.’

‘Changeling wings!? Where did you get those?’

‘It was my mother’s, I have no idea where she found those.’ I said as I was putting my skull mask on.

‘So, what you plan to do with all this?’

‘If everything works correctly, I should be able to create a fetish that will change my outside appearance to the fur’s original owner, and a Spirit of Whispers should be able to translate my rhyming to normal Equestria.’

‘Cool! Perfect disguise!’ Ishwa praised.

‘Well, not perfect. This fetish will not be able to change my cutie mark neither my eye color, so if anyone that knows me should be able to find me quite easily.’

‘Well, almost perfect then. Go on! I want to see you transforming!’ she grabbed a bowl of popcorn.

Finishing the necklace in about fifteen minutes, I was about to test it. ‘I just hope the fur didn’t belong to a mare…’

As I put the necklace on, green flames engulfed me. Burning away my original form painlessly and replacing it with one of a red mare with orange mane and tail.

‘Why do I even had hope?’ I whined with a much higher voice than my own.

‘Damn girl! You’re so hot!’ Ishwa teased, whistling at me.

‘Ancestors it feels so weird! I don’t have my…’ I screamed as I covered my behind with my tail. A huge blush making my coat impossibly redder.

Ishwa laughed so hard the whole town would be able to hear it, rolling on the ground.

‘Look at the bright side, since the fetish only alters your outside appearance, you won’t need to worry about hormones messing with your head.’ Ishwa said, still giggling. I wasn’t really sure if she was teasing or trying to cheer me up. If it was the latter, it didn’t work…

‘Please stop teasing me, it's embarrassing…’

‘Ok, ok. Sorry. What do you need to do know?’ Ishwa said, taking a deep breath and wiping away a tear from her left eyes.

‘I need to restock on chemical supplies, but it's against the law to sell here. I need to find out where I can buy it.’

‘Let's go then.’

Gathering my stuff, I felt a really uncomfortable cold breeze in my new area. I had to stop and readjust my hide armor to serve as some sort of skirt, inciting another whistle from Ishwa which made me blush even more!

I went to the marketplace, where a new trading caravan had just arrived. I approached the merchant and asked. “Excuse me? Do you know where I can buy chemical supplies?”

The merchant was an old looking brown unicorn, he eyed me for a bit before answering, “Ah, if you need chemical reagents or alchemical equipment, you should head to South Line Station, it’s the biggest chem market in the region.”

“Thank you.”

I was about to leave when Ishwa stopped me. ‘Wait, look at his wares, I think that’s a memory prism.’

Searching his wares, I was able to find it stripped to a little statuette of that yellow and pink pegasus from the stable.

“How much you want for that?” I pointed to the prism.

Looking for what I was referring to, he smiled at me and said, “Oh, a pretty gem, for a pretty lady like you. I’m afraid this is a bit hard to find, making it a bit expensive.”

‘Flirt with him to lower the price.’ Ishwa suggested.

‘NO! ARE YOU CRAZY!?’ My blush was so hard that my head was spinning. Ancestors above Ishwa wants to kill me out of embarrassment!

“How much would it cost for a “lady” like me?”

“Something around three hundred caps I suppose.”

“What do you say to one hundred caps and weaver ant silk?”

Pondering for a bit. “Hum… maybe you could sweeten the deal with something else?” His eyes averted to my flanks as he proposed. 
Someone was going to die if things continue heading that way.

“Is eight acid glands sweet enough?” I asked, moving my flanks out of sight.

His expression hardened for a bit, realizing he was having nothing of it. “Hum… deal.”

Exchanging our goods, as I made contact with the pegasus statuette, I felt a surge of energy, like a greater spirit was nearby.

‘What was that?’ Ishwa felt it too, looking around frantically for it.

I inspected the statuette. “Be Pleasant” was written in its base. For some reason, I felt in peace while appreciating it.

‘I don’t know what that was, better stay alert.’ I answered.

Remembering that the merchant was still giving me that piercing, uncomfortable gaze, I got away as quick as I could. Not wanting to look at his face ever again.


*** *** ***


The road led to a rail line, following it would get me to the town in no time. As the time passed by, a floating robot hovered in the distance.

“Watcher!” I called. The sprite-bot sent some sparks, turned and went my way.

“Sorry but, do I know you?” Asked Watcher, with its metallic yet familiar voice.

“It’s me Zhau, I made this necklace to turn me into a pony so I could blend in.” I showed him the fetish.

“... And you turned into a mare…” He said with that tone that implied that he thought I'm a weirdo.

“That’s a little… misfortune I had with the transformation.” I explained, lowering my head.

“Well, that’s unfortunate. how’re you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, thanks. I made some friends at stable 80, it was attacked by the “Steel Rangers” but I helped to repel them.”

“That’s odd, the Steel Rangers tend to keep to themselves most of the time, something must have happened for them to take such action.”

I was staring at the sprite-bot, waiting for an explanation.

“Nevermind. So, now that you’re well equipped and made some friends, the only thing that’s left is to find your virtue.” He said as we resumed our walk.

“Virtue?”

“Yes, that’s the thing that keeps you sane in the wasteland. When you find the virtue that drives your actions.

‘That sounds dumb.’ Stated Ishwa.

“We zebras never had such sense. We simply assume the responsibility for our actions and try to do what feels right... Most of us at least.”

“Well, it might be true. Ponies that didn’t find their virtue tend to break under the harsh reality of the wastes. I assume you already encountered raiders?”

“I did find some crazy ponies that made a gore fest out of some unfortunate souls.”

“Those ponies lost themselves. They went crazy and now inflict pain and suffering on others. I hope you don’t end up as one of them.”

‘So heartwarming’

“I’ll try not to.”

“Well, my time is running out.”

“Wait, Watcher. Your voice sounds strangely familiar. You aren’t a pony, are you?”

Watcher was silent for a moment, then suddenly, there was static and the parade music came back as the sprite-bot hovered away.

‘Well, that as a nice reply.’

‘I’ll ask it again later.’


*** *** ***


Getting closer to town, a small line of ponies caught my attention. They looked like a small trading caravan, but without any wagons or that two headed cow ponies liked to use to carry their stuff, odd. 

That’s when I noticed that the ponies were chained to each other and the four at the front were aiming their guns at me!

‘Nearest cover?’ I asked Ishwa who flew up high to search for it.

‘There isn’t one nearby…’

‘Well… fuck…’ Dropping my saddlebag and sitting on the ground, I announced, “I surrender!”

A dark gray unicorn approached me. He didn’t seem mad like the raiders, but he definitely had that evil aura around him.

“Would you look at that, such a cute and willing mare.” He said with a wicked smile gesturing to his partner to bind me. He shackled my forelegs together and chained it to the rest of the slaves.

And just like that, I was at the front of the line with the other slaved ponies, walking slowly away from the city. My saddlebag has been kept on at the back of the line, where an unfortunate pony was tasked to carry all the items the slavers had stolen.

Behind me, I noticed a familiar looking mare and filly. Looking closer, the filly had a broken zebra necklace dangling around her neck. They were the mother and daughter that bought at my store!

The filly had a limp to her walk. She had been shot in the back right leg, it only scraped the surface, but the little wimps and cries the filly gave each step indicated that it was very painful. 

Her mother, who was behind her, was trying to mitigate her pain by slightly holding her flank with her hooves, lowering the impact her hooves had when touching the ground.

The two ponies who captured me were far ahead enough to be out of earshot. I leaned closer to the filly, gave her a soothing smile and said, “Hi sweetie, what a nice necklace you have.”

The filly looked at me with a bit of fear, considering the whole situation, I was surprised when she returned my smile and said, “Thanks, a nice zebra gave it to me. You have a pretty necklace too.”

I touched the gemstone in my necklace with my snout, feeling its warmth, then looked back to the filly. “Thanks. Tell me, are you afraid of spiders?”

“Nu-Uhm, my momma keeps me safe.” She said with pride, beaming a heart melting smile to her mother, who gave her a little kiss.

“Don’t worry dear, we’ll get out of here and take a look at your leg okay?” Her mom promised.

I looked at her and whispered, “Do you still have that healing potion you bought from me?”

“What are you talking about?” She looked confused.

“The potion you bought from the zebra.”

“How do you know that? Were you following us?” She asked suspiciously, getting closer to her filly.

“Not now, do you have it or not?” I pressed the matter.

“No, I gave it to her a while ago.”

“Listen, I'm going to create a distraction and break these chains. As soon as you have the chance, run for your weapons so we can take them out.”

“And how do you think you’ll be able to do that?” She questioned with a lot of doubt in her words.

“Simple, I’m a zebra witch doctor” I grinned.

‘Ishwa, let the show begin!’

‘My pleasure!’

Ishwa threw me my skull and the spider masks. Putting the skull on I shouted, “Spirit of lies, weave your web!” And threw the mask near the front guards.

The giant spider came out of the mask and began its assault. The four guards began firing at it, completely forgetting about their slaves.

‘Your dagger.’ Ishwa passed me.

Grabbing it with my mouth, I hit the connection between my chain and the rest of the slaves and proceeded to do the same to the rest of them.

“Grab your weapons, let us fight them!” I boomed.

Most of the slaves fled, but some of them did as I said and rushed to their guns. I escorted the mare and her filly to my saddlebag and said, “She should be safe hiding behind it.”

“Stay hidden sweetie, if anypony finds you, run.” Her mom instructed. Getting a nod as an answer, she grabbed her gun and advanced against the slavers.

The slavers were shooting the spider, who had killed one of them and trapped another one in its web. She was wounded, but the thing is, you can’t kill a spirit with normal weapons, it’ll only disappear until it’s healed and then come back later.

The blue mare started firing at the gray unicorn, who was too distracted to notice in time. The first shot ripped his horn out, making him drop his gun and scream in pain, while the second shot hit his torso and punctured his lungs. 

That mare had an incredible aim. First disabling her target before going for the killing blow. The second slaver, a green earth pony mare, started shooting at us. I charged at her in a zigzag fashion, making it harder for her to hit me and bucked her in the chest, knocking her to the ground. With my dagger now on my tail, I subdued her.

The spider returned to its mask, leaving its two remaining victims trapped in her web. I was about to congratulate the blue mare when she shot both the slavers in the head. Killing them instantly.

“That wasn’t necessary, they were neutralized,” I said.

She pointed her battle saddle mounted sniper rifle at me, releasing the lever. “What the hell are you!? How do you know me? And how did you summoned that giant spider!?” She threatened. Holding the lever with her mouth again.

I sat down and removed my skull mask. “I’m a friend. I’m the zebra that sold you the potion, I’m only disguised as a pony. As for the spider, it’s a Spirit of Lies, shamans from my homeland have the ability to communicate and bargain with spirits such as these.”

To prove my point, I removed my changeling fetish, turning back to my original self.

“It’s the nice zebra from the market!” The filly cheered, waving at me.

That seemed to calm her mom. Who at least lowered her gun.

“I am Zhausikuitri.”

“What?” the mare asked.

“Zhau for short, It is a pleasure to meet you, we better take your daughter to the city, so that those wounds we can undo.” I offered.

“And why the hell should we let you travel with us?” the mare asked, in a defensive - aggressive tone.

“More dangers you can encounter, but your daughter won’t be able to run in that state. I can provide cover, until that leg your daughter recovers.”

She frowned, pondering her options. It seemed she liked to travel alone, but her daughter would be an easy target in her state.

Releasing a heavy sigh, she nodded her head and released the lever of her battle saddle.

“Ok, you can come with us. But I warn you, if you do anything to hurt my daughter, the next bullet is in your head.” She threatened.

Showing understanding, I strapped my saddlebag onto my back and put on my disguise. The green flames seemed to amaze the filly who came closer to inspect my changed body with wonder.

‘Damn, that mare is intense!’ Ishwa commented.

‘Nothing is scarier than a mother trying to protect its offsprings.’

‘Maybe it's true. Well, at least now I have other ponies to mess with until we arrive at the city!’ Ishwa said, pulling an evil curly mustache with her tip of her fingers.





Footnote: Level Up! (4)

Skills Raised:
Barter: 34
Speech: 32
Survival: 46

New perk: 
Charismatic Presence : +10% to initial reaction of other ponies

New Curse:
Evil Witchcraft: You gain +20% bad karma whenever bad karma is gained
> Chapter 4 - Medical Attention
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

South Line Station was a small town and like the name suggested, used to be a train station. Train cars were turned into various buildings, old-world ticket booths and souvenir stores served as shops and hotels.

The streets were filled with ponies, busy with their works. But even though the town was bustling with activity, it felt sick. Ponies lay on the floor with lots of empty syringes around them. Everypony walked warily like somepony would try to steal their things at any moment.

The air was foul and the walls were stained by all kinds of filth. Almost every corner had drug sellers showing their wares openly among the crowd. It seemed like there was no security at all in the town.

“There’s a medical clinic just ahead,” The mare, which introduced herself as Cloud, said, Pointing forward with her hoof. She was carrying her daughter Angel on her back while I carried her battle saddle and bags.

The clinic was an old two store pharmacy, boarded windows in both levels kept whoever wanted to steal its contents away.

Putting my fetish on, we went inside. To my surprise the inside was actually pretty clean, white tiles adorned the clinic’s floor complimented by white painted walls. Even so, I felt strangely uneasy inside this place. 

Ishwa was following behind me. Suddenly, she stared fixedly at a nearby door, her fur and feathers standing on end.

‘Danger…’ She growled, clearly wary.

Through that door came a white unicorn with red mane and tail, he had a syringe as a cutie mark and wore a white medical coat, stained with red spots of old, dried blood. He was carrying a bone saw with his magic when he noticed us. He placed the bone saw on top of a nearby table and said, “Hello there, my name is Fix Shot, is there anything I can do to help these two beautiful mares?”

Cloud helped her daughter down and answered, “My daughter was shot. She needs healing.”

“Oh, I see. Let’s go to the next room so I can examine the wound better, yes?” the doctor said, leading us to an examination room on the left. The room had white tile walls and floor. There was a steel exam table in the center, coupled with exam lights and a medical table with lots of surgical equipment.

“Lay here please,” he asked Angel, who jumped on top of the table with a bit of trouble.

The doctor put on some glasses and examined the wound for a while.

“Luckily, the wound is superficial. I can sterilize it with some hydrogen peroxide and give her a shot of a stimpack to help it heal.”

“Stimpack?” Cloud asked, not liking the sound of it.

“A stimpack is a medicinal drug I concocted, it’s a metabolism accelerator mixed with anesthetics. It heals faster and better than a common healing potion.”

“Ok, then. You can proceed,” Cloud said, allowing the doctor to start the treatment.

He cleaned the wound with a clean cloth and hydrogen peroxide. After it was cleaned, he got a syringe with a bluish liquid and injected it in Angel’s leg.

“The wound will begin to heal from inside out, getting any kind of possible lead or debris out of her body after a good night sleep.” He explained, cleaning his needle in a nearby sink.

“Thanks, how much will it cost me?”

“I’ll give you a nice discount, fifty caps.”

Hoofing her caps, Cloud got her filly on her back again and began walking out, followed by the doctor and me. Before leaving I asked the doctor, “Do you sell any chemical supplies?”

“Sweet Celestia no, I'm having too much trouble trying to get this town clean. I would never sell any kind of chemical supplies!”

‘Is that true Ishwa?’

‘... I don’t know! I can’t use my powers on him! What the hell is he!?’ Ishwa exclaimed in surprise. I didn’t know if she was more afraid than angry that her powers didn’t work, I would bet it was the former.

“Ok then, goodbye.” Walking out of the clinic, Cloud waited for me outside, sitting on the side street with her daughter, drinking a bottle of “Sparkle Cola”.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” I asked sitting near them.

Cloud rolled her eyes in annoyance. She didn’t like my presence at all. “I’ll buy some supplies around the city. As soon as it gets dark, I’ll head to Farside City.”

“You’re going to spend the night outside?”

“Yes, like we normally do.” She gestured to her filly.

‘She would be monster food in no time in Zebrica,’ Ishwa commented.

“Ok then. I’ll search for some chemical reagents and I’ll wait for you at the gates.”

She nodded dismissively, not caring too much about me. Going deeper into town, I reached what seemed to be the marketplace, a lot of booths were set around a big clock that dangled from the roof, completely broken. The streets were divided by passing rails. On one side there were food shops, gun shops and other miscellaneous shops scattered around. On the other side, there were chemical shops, drug dealers, mixers, fixers and all kind of intoxicating items.

Ponies clearly didn’t have the same control and viewpoint as zebras when it came to drugs. Empty syringes, inhalers, cartridges, smoking pipes and other stuff lay scattered around. Some ponies shook and quivered with pinprick eyes, some other banged their head on the walls and some other were so overdosed that they simply stopped functioning. Misery and suffering spread like an airborne plague in this town.

I approached what seemed to be the emptiest drug store. The shopkeeper was an orange mare with white mane and red eyes. She was busy mixing something behind her counter to notice my approach.

“Excuse me? What do you have for sale?” I asked, clearing my throat to get her attention.

“Oh, hi there! We have plenty of entertaining things for sale today.” She answered, putting a plastic case on top of her counter and showing her wares to me.

“We got Buck, Dash, Mint-als, Party time Mint-als, Moon dust and all kinds of alcohol!” The mare announced with pride of her wide variety of “entertainment” drugs.

“How much for Dash and Mint-als?”

“They cost twenty caps and thirty caps respectively!”

“I’d like two of each please.”

She hoofed me the drugs and grabbed my caps, storing them in a pouch around her waist. “Enjoy!” She smiled.

“Thanks. Say, where do you get the chemicals to make these?”

“Oh, I got it from a special supplier, so you can be sure that the best chems are only found here, at our shop!”

‘That’s true, at least she thinks it’s true.’ Ishwa stated.

‘Can you confirm that?’

‘Hey, I’m only a lesser spirit, my powers don’t go that far. Unfortunately,’ Ishwa said with a heavy sigh of frustration.

‘Don’t worry.’ 

Waving my goodbyes, I left the shop. ‘Let’s see if we can find out who they’re buying from.’

‘Ohhh, espionage!’ Ishwa exclaimed with a spy suit and smoking pipe in her paws.

After a while, I visited almost every booth and none of them gave me a substantial answer. It was getting dark, so I went to the gate and waited for Cloud and Angel to arrive.

After a couple of minutes, they arrived carrying new supplies, stored them in her saddlebags and left the town.

“So, why exactly do you spend the night outside settlements?”

“It’s cheaper that way,” Cloud answered as nonchalantly as possible. It was starting to get a little annoying, so I thought it was time for some payback.

“And more dangerous.”

“But more private.” She retorted with a bit of annoyance.

“And less comfortable,” I answered with a smirk on my face.

“And a bit lonely…” Angel added meekly.

“Sweet Celestia! We’re sleeping outside, if you don’t want to, get lost!” Cloud yelled, her face red with anger.

‘Nice! The new score is 1 x 0 for the home team!’ Ishwa cheered, wearing a buckball team uniform.

“I was just teasing. Shall we set up camp so I can make something to eat?”


*** *** ***


After a while of walking, we found a good place to set camp, it was near Farside City in the same area where I found the Stable. With a tent raised and the fire going, I started to cook a traditional zebra soup, not very filling, but super nutritious. 

Cloud was returning from her watch when I noticed Angel playing with some familiar looking toys. “What you got there Angel?”

The filly looked at me with a happy smile, eager to show me her toys. “It’s the ministry mares! They are the ponies that tried to save Equestria a long time ago!” She had four statuettes similar to mine. She introduced me each one of them with pride at her collection.

“The blue one is Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony that ever lived! The white one is Rarity, she’s very pretty! The orange one is Applejack, she looks so cool! And the purple one is Twilight Sparkle, she’s my favorite!”

“They’re very pretty, is your collection complete?” I asked, knowing the answer.

The filly deflated. “No, there’s two that I'm missing, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. My mommy searched for them all over the place, but they’re super hard to find!”

“Oh, are they? Well, maybe… you’d like... this?” I started slowly as I searched my saddlebag, getting the statuette alongside the memory prisms.

Angel went ecstatic! “You have Fluttershy!” She screamed with a high pitch voice, jumping in place. “Can I see her?” she asked, trembling with excitement.

“You can have her, clearly it’s more important to you than me,” I said as I gave the statute to her with a smile. 

Her smile was infinite times greater than mine. She held it like a precious gem, her eyes flashing a curious glimmer, like when I held it for the first time.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Mama! Look what the nice zebra gave to me!” She screamed, hopping to her mother, light as a feather.

After some time, the soup was ready and served, Cloud was suspicious about it, but eventually, her hunger talked louder than her suspicion and she began eating it.

After we finished eating, I got a pouch full of berries from my homeland. The berries were called “Guaraná”, they had a red shell and black on white interior, alongside it were little dark purple nuts called “Açaí” that, when mixed together, would make a super sweet dessert.

Remembering that I still had my disguise on, I took off my fetish, reverting to my original stripes. I got up and showed the berries to my companions. “Who wants a Zebrican dessert?”

“I’ll pass,” Cloud stated blankly.

“Uh, can I have some mom?”

“Uhm… Yeah, you can, but just a little bit.” Cloud said, apprehensively.

“Ice cream coming right up!” I announced. Chopping the treats in the tiniest possible bits and grinded then together in a bowl, I poured a bit of water, mixed then and calling on the powers of a lesser Spirit of Hatred, also know as a Spirit of Cold, I froze the dark purple cream into a nice Açaí ice cream and served Angel a bowl.

“... It looks weird,” Angel said, inspecting her ice cream with a spoon.

“You will like it” I encouraged, taking a spoonful of my own. The açaí ice cream was super sweet and tasty like a tropical heaven, it gave me so many memories from my homeland. I miss my home…

Angel ate a shy amount of her ice cream, tasting its sandy texture. She made a disgusted face at first, but soon the guaraná sweetness kicked in. Her expression quickly changed for one of pure tropical bliss, her previous hesitance replaced by eagerness and a strong hunger for more!

“Sweet Celestia this is so good! Mom! Come and try it! Angel, beckoned.

“I’m good sweetie, don’t eat too much or you’ll have a tummy ache.” Her mom warned, not really phasing the filly.


*** *** ***


After every last bit of ice cream was consumed and every utensil were put away, everypony was settling to sleep. Cloud did her last scouting round before putting her filly to bed. When Angel was comfortable and sleeping she approached me.

“Hey…” She whispered softly, trying to not wake Angel up.

“Yes?” I replied in a similar tone.

“I noticed that you have a memory orb collection.” Cloud procured a small pouch from her saddlebags, and from inside the pouch, she retrieved a memory orb and gave it to me. “Consider this payment for the Fluttershy statuette, Angel really liked that.”

I took the orb in my hooves and stored it with the others in my saddlebags. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to bed. Can you cover the first watch?”

“Yes, of course.”

Cloud turned back and went inside her tent where Angel was asleep. Leaving me alone outside since Ishwa was sleeping on top of said tent.

A few hours have passed, I was bored to death… Everything was calm and quiet. Not even a wild critter to entertain me. I looked at my saddlebags, wondering if I should look into a memory orb. 

Well, I had nothing to do, so I've put my skull mask on and placed the first memory prism I found onto its right eye socket. I heard that unicorn ponies go into a trance-like state when looking into a memory. Well, we zebras didn’t have that kind of problem. With my skull on, I asked a lesser Spirit of Time for help. Memories being the proof of time, I was able to partially submerge myself into the memory, Having the complete connection to my host without losing consciousness of the real world around me.

Concentrating on the memory prism, I delved in.


<-=======ooO Ooo=======->


I was walking in the middle of a green lustful forest, the calming sound of running water announced the presence of a nearby river. My host was a female zebra, the fact that I wasn’t fazed by the fact that I was in a female body worried me to no end. 

I felt tired, my breathing was heavy, probably due to recent running. My host looked around her. I was surrounded by zebras wearing combat gear and the old Roam military uniform, I knew where I was.

Soon enough my host reached her destination. A small clearing, totally surrounded by marked trees. In the middle of the clearing, two zebra scouts waited for us.

“Report,” A zebra stallion from my squad said, by the looks of his uniform, he was the squad captain.

“Sir! The ponies built a defensive base of operations with heavy artillery in the area, their communication system seems weak and they’re isolated from any kind of Nightmare Moon’s reinforcements.” One of the scouts said, saluting her superior.

“Show us the map.”

The scout gestured to his friend who grabbed a map from his saddlebag and opened it on the grass, my whole squad approached to see the map.

The map showed nine military settlements connected by a single rail line that circled from the north and all along the Crescent Moon Canyon.

My host gasped, following the rail line and the river that ran in that location, the whole place formed the crest of Nightmare Moon, this place was evil, and it must be cleansed.

“Zaya, what do you see?” The captain asked my host. Now I knew her name.

Zebra squads usually had a shaman with them, in case they needed higher help or maybe a blessing before their deaths. Shamans were also responsible for the recording of important memories from their operations, these memories would be stored for later use by officials as a way to study the battlefield if the worst happened to the scout team, the memories would be hidden away so that when the rest of the army arrived they would know what they’re dealing with.

My host concentrated, channeling her will upon the spiritual plane. She was able to ask a Spirit of Whispers and a greater one at that, she was quite the capable shaman. Spirits of Whispers have the ability to erase something you want to be a secret or, in this case, revealing what is a secret. But the problem with greater spirits is that the price they charge is always pretty high.

I could feel images being planted inside my host’s memories, what the pony artillery was like, how to gain control of it, how their communications worked, how to break their connection with each other, train schedules, ways to infiltrate their bases using the train and much more. 

But at the same time, the spirit was taking away the memories she valued the most. Her first day at school, the day she got her cutie mark, her first date, her wedding, the day her foal was born, all becoming more and more blurry as the spirit feed her new information. 

At the end of the process, the spirit vanished, leaving her out cold on the grass. Her teammates helped her on her hooves. Weak and pale, she began telling everything she learned, a small tear rolling down her eye, knowing that she would never be able to regain her lost memories ever again.

“Thank you Zaya, your sacrifice will bring salvation to our people,” the captain said, wiping away her tears. He rolled the map and stored it in his saddlebags, rallying everyzebra to formation he instructed, “Alright listen up! We’ll set up base here and organize our supplies for tomorrow's assault. We’ll split into two teams: one and two. Team one will head to their radio station and cut off their communications while team two will head directly to their artillery cannon. The ponies fortified their bases expecting a direct assault from a big army, but they were not prepared for us, we’ll use their own artillery to blow them to Kutengwa!”

Everyzebra cheered Intensely, confidence and determination filling their souls while my host stood on the far side, doubt permeated her mind. That night they would have a great celebration, a zebra tradition to raise morale before going to battle. But all my host wanted to do was to return home, to her family, and apologize.


<-=======ooO Ooo=======->


With the end of the memory, I took the memory prism and the skull mask off, a lone tear running down my cheeks. “Forgive me, mother…” Not wanting to stay awake anymore I woke Cloud and went to sleep, Hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.





Footnote: Level Up! (5)

Skills Raised:
Barter: 39
Speech: 37
Survival: 49

New Perk:
Knowledge of the Past: You gain two more skill points every time you advance in level.
> Chapter 5 - Guardian Angel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I still don’t know why I wished for a better day.

I woke up to the sound of growls and whines of pain. Angel was curled into a fetal position, hugging her stomach, her halo cutie mark looking pale and twisted.

Cloud was at her side, desperately trying to help her. Her face showing the fear of her world falling apart with her Angel. I got up and hurried to them.”What happened?!” I asked, trying to find any superficial wound on her belly.

“You poisoned her!” Cloud shouted, her anger was so intense that it could scare a dragon away from its hoard.

Taking a step back defensively I answered, “I did not! I only gave her soup and ice cream, not any rot!”

“The fucking berries were poisonous! You gained her trust and now you tried to kill her!” Cloud snapped, getting to her battle saddle and pointing her gun at me. “Get the fucking out of here now!”

‘Wow, wow! What the hell is going on here?! It’s not my working schedule yet!’ Ishwa woke up from all the commotion. Wearing a sleeping mask on the top of her head and drinking coffee from a pink mug that read, “I’m #1!”.

‘Ishwa quick! Take a closer look at Angel, she's not good!’ I asked hurriedly.

Ishwa shook off her garments and levitated near Angel to inspect her.

‘She looks to be in a lot of pain from something from her belly.’ Ishwa diagnosed. Getting closer to her flank, she seemed to find something else. ‘She has burst veins near the skin around her cutie mark…’

‘That might be an infection. I don’t know, that might be a lot of things!’

Cloud had enough of me standing there in silence and shot the ground near my hooves, her sniper rifle made a loud cracking sound like she fired thunderbolts at me.

I jumped back, avoiding getting shot again. Cloud put her daughter on her back and ran into the wilds. She was heading to Farside City, it was too far away and whatever Angel had seemed to spread quickly. I had to help her!

Ishwa flew ahead, following Cloud while I got our saddlebags and chased after her. I was carrying too much weight, but I could hear the clip-clop of her stammering hooves. 

Getting closer to her, I shouted, “Cloud! I can help you!”

“Go away you bastard!” She shot back, galloping even faster.

“I know of a nearby medic! Let me help you, or her end will be tragic!”

She didn’t answer. Her hooves were beginning to falter as fatigue took hold. Ishwa’s magic went to work and made her trip and fall, I jumped over her and caught Angel before she hit the ground. 

Turning around, I ran full speed to Stable 80, they had the most impressive medical station I have ever seen. They could help me. They had to help me!

‘How is she Ishwa?’

Her darkened veins began spreading, her whole leg was swelling! 

‘Not good! We need to do something!’

Something lighted upon my mind. A good idea, a risky idea, but the only one I got. ‘Ishwa, grab my skull mask, and the left over açaí bits!’

Ishwa did as asked as quickly as she could, worry clear on her face. That's the thing I like the most on her, despite being an immortal spirit of chaos she worries about me, and now, my friends.

‘Got it! What now?’

‘I’ll attempt to summon a Spirit of Time to help. I need you to spread these bits so Cloud can find us.’

‘WHAT?! Are you insane?! Spirits of Time are too strong and you’re already tired from running!’

‘I know.’

Focusing my might on the ethereal plane, I plead for help. It is true that most spirits charge expensive prices for their services, after all, it were the spirits themselves that taught the zebras about trade and commerce. But there are selfless, benevolent spirits too. And one of them came to my aid.

A bright flare erupted in front of us. The whole world was nothing more than white and warmth. From within the great flash came an enormous phoenix, a greater Spirit of Time!

Phoenixes are as ageless as time itself, their endless cycle of rebirth represent the divine blessing upon all females that bring life to the world. They care and cherish every single newborn and child, and this one agreed to help me save Angel!

The phoenix dashed ahead of us, red flames burning brightly, time itself was bent into reverence upon her majestic flight, everything except me and Ishwa slowed to a crawl. I could feel the phoenix power taking its toll on my endurance, but now I could save Angel.



*** *** ***


The phoenix flight ended on the Stable 80 door. It took me seconds what should have taken minutes. I banged my hooves at the door as hard as I could. Waiting for a response the phoenix disappeared into the sky. Looks like that spirit wasn’t willing to follow me, but I was glad it helped me. 

Banging my hooves at the door again  I shouted. “Please, Help! It is Zhausikuitri!”

A few seconds later the door opened. Its slow crawl made me really impatient. There was not time to lose!

The Overmare was on the front of the door, flanked by four guards armed with assault rifles. “Oh, hello. What can we…”

“No time for formalities, if she does not get medical treatment, this will end in tragedy!” I rushed, leaning to the side so she could see Angel.

“Sweet Celestia, get the medic team now and make sure they have an auto doc ready!” ordered the Overmare to the nearest guard on her right. He saluted and hurried inside. She beckoned me inside and was about to close the Stable door when I interrupted her.

“Her mother is coming this way, she might be agitated, but please send her to me without delay.”

The Overmare nodded comprehensively and said, “Okay, I’ll, but please hurry!”

I ran down the halls of Stable 80, remembering the way to the medical station. There a green earth pony stallion was waiting for me. “Over here please!” He beckoned to a nearby medical bed, a weird machine was attached to it. I laid Angel down with her belly up, two nurses began administering blood serum with some kind of medication.

“I’m doctor Stitches, this is nurse Caring Love, and nurse Kind Touch. We’ll take care of her. Can you remove her barding while we calibrate the equipment to her size please?”

I nodded, leaning closer to Angel’s ear, I whispered, “Angel?” She gave a weak response, leaning her head in my direction. “I need to take off your barding okay? So the doctor can make the pain go away.” she nodded slowly. I remembered her wanting to take that off a while back, now that she would be able to, her face showed a tiny amount of relief.

I unstrapped the upper half of her barding, there seemed to be some kind of bulge pushing the barding from the both sides of her back. When I unstrapped the bottom half the barding shot open and two white feathered wings stretched in front of me!

Angel was a pegasus! The barding she used cramped her wings to the sides of her body, no wonder she wanted to get rid of it. But, if she is a pegasus, and her mother uses the same barding, so that means…

“Where is she?!” Cloud burst into the hallway, unarmed and angrier than ever. The medics approached with their equipment and announced that her treatment would begin immediately so I stepped out of the room and called her mother.

“She is here, safe and…” A hard smack hit my left cheek, leaving a stinging, red and hot hoof mark. I recovered from the assault and looked back to Cloud. She was crying openly, her expression a mix of anger and despair but deep down there was a solid gratitude for helping her daughter.

“Don’t you ever dare to take her away from me again you hear?!”

“Yes.” I nodded and gave her access to the room where her filly was waiting for her.

Ishwa examined my face with a monocle and announced, 'Yup, now the score is 1×1.'

Smiling, I found a nearby chair and settled down, praying to the spirits so that Angel can recover.



*** *** ***


Some hours have passed. Cloud was chased off the room so the medics could work, much to her dislike, and now we were waiting in the atrium. The only noise were ponies eating and walking, nopony dared to chat near Cloud after they saw the way she entered the Stable.

Ishwa was distracting herself around the Stable, she didn’t break anything, but I’m sure a teacher from the Stable school walked around with a coffee stain on her dress.

“So, Angel is a pegasus.” I started, trying to bring up any conversation.

“And?” She replied, her head planted on the table. breathing was her only movement.

“I would guess you too?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

The mood wasn’t improving.

“Cloud, I want you to know that I do not wish you harm. I wish you could trust me, even if trusting a zebra seems hard.”

Cloud moved her head, now I could see her face.

“I too have lost many.”

Still not much response.

“Angel is a strong filly.”

“The strongest pony I know…” Cloud answered softly. “Thank you for bringing her here, I don’t know if she would survive if you didn’t stoped me.”

“No problem, Cloud.”

“... Feather.” She stated weakly.

“What?”

“My full name is Cloud Feather.” She said, for the first time looking into my eyes that night.”

It was time for dinner. The Overmare came down from her quarters to eat with us, it seemed to be a habit of her to eat alongside her fellow dwellers.

“How is the world outside?” The Overmare asked.

“Harsh and dangerous, but manageable,” I replied, focusing my attention on the food. Dinner was composed of bland looking apples and a weird tasting drink, probably vitamin or protein supplement.

“Is the ground fertile enough to feed two hundred ponies?” Now that question got my attention.

“Why you ask?”

The Overmare leaned closer, making sure nopony was eavesdropping. “The stable integrity has been compromised after the last blast.”

I was surprised, how a simple rocket launcher was able to damage a Stable that was designed to withstand a mega spell hit? I voiced my concern to her.

With a sigh, she replied, “Unfortunately, this Stable is not as durable as the others. This stable is built too close to the surface and was built much quicker, so we could start our research about the pink cloud. It was also the first to be closed, as far as I can tell.”

“How so?”

“We’re right next to the frontier, a zebra hit squad took hold of a defensive long range artillery from the Equestrian soldiers and started bombarding everything. After they destroyed all the remaining army around here, they shot the remaining ammunition on us, heavily damaging our structural integrity. I guess that when that armored pony shot missiles at us, we crossed the safe line and now we need to evacuate.”

Well, I guess that now I know what the other memories may have.

“I will try to help,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

That seemed to calm her a bit. “Thank you. You two can stay the night here if you want. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to my work.” And with that she left, greeting someponies along the way.

We finished our dinner and went back to the medical station where Angel was being treated, there, the medic and nurses were cleaning the equipment. Cloud hurried up to talk to the doctor and learn what happened to her filly.

“How is she?” Cloud asked.

“She’s weak and tired, but she’ll recover. Right now she’s sleeping in the next room while we wait to administer her last medicine in four hours.” Answered doctor Stitches, making some notes on his clipboard.

“What happened to her?” I asked, really curious to know what disease caused such damage so quickly.

The look on his eyes became more serious as he explained. “She was injected with a wild cocktail of drugs, there were all kinds of chemicals running through her veins! Painkillers, steroids, neural poisons, even some kind of mutagenic “virus”.”

The list was horrifying Cloud more and more with every item added. “Is there gonna be any kind of permanent damage?” She asked with worry, her eyes turning a light shade of red, almost crying again.

“Thankfully, our zebra friend... Zhau? Is it? Brought her here in time for us to revert all the effects and cleanse her bloodstream from those Tartarus damned chems. But it doesn’t hurt to leave her in observation.”

“Thank you, doc.” Cloud said, voice almost a whisper, the relief was clear on her smile.



*** *** ***


Time has passed, Cloud was in a better mood and started exploring the Stable, never seeing one in her life. From my own experience from a few days ago, Seeing this little fragment of the old world, made you wonder what other kinds of genius arcane or technological feats would be achieved by now if the world hadn’t been destroyed by the war.

The nurses were about to administer the last medicine Angel needed when they called for the doctor over the intercom. Cloud came galloping to encounter doctor Stitches, fearing something bad has happened. I was sitting beside the doctor who was talking on the nearby intercom, almost as nervous as Cloud.

The doctor turned to face us, a smile on his face. “I’m happy to inform you that Angel is awake.”

Cloud almost dashed to her room before doctor Stitches caught her attention.

“Now remember, she's still tired and weak after the procedure, I recommend she spends the rest of the day at the observation room so you can leave tomorrow well rested.” Doctor Stitches instructed. When he was sure that Cloud understood everything, he gestured for her to go to her filly’s side.

No unicorn or zebra could teleport faster than Cloud ran to Angel’s room. I followed her to the best of my abilities, even Ishwa was falling behind.

When I reached the room, Angel was enraptured in the mightiest, spine snapping, bear hug a loving mother could deliver. Tears running freely, Cloud repeatedly kissed her cheeks, saying how much she loved her and how worried she was.

Angel still was a bit dazed by the sudden attack of affection. When she recovered her bearings, she noticed a small bruise on Cloud’s face from when she fell in the wilds. Angel kissed the bruise, shooing the possible pain away.

‘That filly really is an angel hum?’ Ishwa commented, a sweet smile on her face.

‘Oh, how emotional of you, Ishwa,’ I snickered teasingly. Her feathers and fur stood on end, like when a foal is caught doing a late night cookie jar raiding.

‘What? No! I mean, she’ll need an angel to save her from all the pranks I have planned for her!’ Ishwa recovered, her nervous eyes avoiding contact with my own.

I giggled. ‘You’re too cute Ishwa.’ Blush incoming.

Sure enough, she blushed. ‘And too fun to tease.’ I added with a quiet laugh.  ‘Maybe I should introduce you to Cloud and Angel at some point.’ I added.

No comments from her, she was mad at me.

Rolling my eyes, I refocused my attention to Angel. Her memories of what happened were blurry, which to some extent, I thought was a blessing. Her mother was telling her that she was at a Stable and that she would need to stay here until she recovers.

“Does that mean I can sleep in this bed?” Angel asked hopefully.

“Yes dear, we’re all sleeping in comfy, clean beds tonight,” Cloud assured her with a warm smile, deep down I could see she was glad she could sleep in a mattress as well.

A yawning from Angel broke the giggles. “Mom, can you tell me a story? I feel sleepy.”

That certainly got my attention. During my infancy, my mother used to tell me stories from all around Zebrica, and I would love to hear some pony stories as well.

“Sure dear, do you want to hear the story of the mare in the moon?” Cloud asked. I’ve heard that story before, albeit I'm sure it was completely different.

“You already told that one,” Angel answered with a little pout.

“What about the tale of the Little Red Riding Hood and the timberwolves?”

“I don’t like that story…” Angel said with a bit of sadness, it felt like she already heard all the tales her mother had to tell.

“Maybe, you would like to hear the story of a zebra and its curse?” I gave the option. At the sound of “curse,” Cloud frowned, so I reassured her, “Don’t worry Cloud, this story is not scary or perverse.”

“Is that a story from you home?” Angel asked, clearly interested to hear the story.

“Ah yes, you see? Back from where I came from, there were travelers called Story Weavers, which stories full of wonders, they told stories of thieves, kings and hunters. I collected many tales and stories, so the same title, I could claim. This particular story is close to me. But maybe, you would like to hear?”

“Yes please!” Angel said while she nestled down on her sheets, trying to get to the perfect, comfortable spot.

I put my fetish on. I figured that if I was to tell a story to a pony, it would be best if I could speak more clearly. Clearing my throat to adjust to my female voice, I began.


~~~~~~~~~~


Once upon a time, in the magical land of Zebrica. There were two loving zebras, a couple. The mare was Iana, she had long and flowing mane and tail, her stripes were delicate and exotic, a heart of infinite love and care formed her cutie mark. She was the alchemist of a small tribe of zebras that lived in the Uchawi forest, but she wasn’t born there. She left her original tribe behind so she could live with her love, Hawe. He was strong and handsome, his presence made her feel safe. His coat had a lot more black than white and his flank embedded a spear and shield cutie mark, representing his place as the tribe warrior, and an exceptional warrior at that.

Their love was stronger than any rivalry their original tribes had, nozebra had the power to take them apart. After years living together, their love grew and grew to the point that it was almost as palpable as a foal, until finally, it became one. The couple beamed with pride and happiness, their first child was on the way! Little did they know that that single foal would be the cause of the most sad and dreadful moment of their lives.

The time had come, their foal was going to be born tonight! The whole tribe gathered at the entrance to their house, waiting to meet the new member of their community. But something was wrong, the sky was clear and full of stars, to us zebras, the stars were evil spirits, trapped in the sky, trying to escape so they could destroy everything dear to us.

There was a scream, Iana went into labor, a single shooting star crossed the sky.

A second scream, The baby was almost here, more shooting stars joined the first, all converging to the tribe’s direction. Something wasn’t right.

The third scream came with little cries, the baby was here! But a fourth scream tore through the joyous moment as star spawns, monsters made by constellations, attacked the village.

The battle was fierce, a lot of warriors died that day, but the village was safe. But it would not stay safe for long, not anymore. The baby cries had summoned the stars' wrath upon the village, it was cursed!

Time passed by, the foal grew into a playful colt named Zaki. He was the life and joy of his mother, but to the tribe, he was the root of all the loss and pain the tribe suffered since his birth. Every year, at his birthday, shooting stars brought star spawns to the village. The life of the chief’s wife was taken in the last attack, that was the breaking point.

The tribe wanted the colt sacrificed to the Ancestors so that they might forgive their transgressions and save their village. The mother fought with all her might, but the father… The father remembered the horrors the stars brought to his old tribe, with his heart filled with anger and grief he too wanted the child to be offered as a sacrifice.

A single foal did what the Zebrican wasteland couldn’t and separated the two lovers. Iana fled the village, roaming aimlessly in the Ancestors forsaken forest when she finally found a place she could settle…


~~~~~~~~~~


My story was interrupted by soft snores coming from Angel, she was sleeping peacefully tucked inside her mattress, almost like a pod. I removed my mask, story time was over. I greeted Cloud goodbye and went to my room, it was a bit too early to sleep but I didn’t know when I would have the opportunity of relaxing so carefreely. I had a feeling that the days to come would bring a lot of sleepless nights with them.





Footnote: Level Up! (6)

Skills Raised:
Speech: 44
Survival: 56

New Perk: 
Spiritual bound: When a companion drops below 50% HP, your spiritual magic capabilities are increased by 25%
> Chapter 6 - Lost and Found
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up in the morning feeling a surge of energy. The spirits were happy with me.

‘Good morning Zhau,’ said Ishwa with a sleepy tone to her voice. She was wearing a sleeping mask at the top of her head and a pajama, adorned with stars and planets, making her literally the center of the universe. To be honest, if she were wearing any other thing, I would be worried.

‘A good morning indeed!’ I replied, jumping out of bed. ‘I feel like nothing can go wrong today!’ Ishwa raised an eyebrow, it was almost an offense saying such a thing in her presence.

‘And why do you think such a blasphemous thing?’

‘I feel the grace of the spirits upon me. I should take this opportunity to work on some of my fetishes!’

I trotted to my saddlebags and searched my things. ‘The mask of the Spirit of Lies should be fine, I don’t need anything brewed today, and probably shouldn’t brew underground either.’ My hooves stumbled upon my changeling fetish and an idea sprung to mind. ‘Maybe I could upgrade this thing to provide additional effects like detection or anti-magic defenses!’ Satisfied, I threw my saddlebags on my bed.

I put my fetish on, turning into the red and orange mare again. Only this time I had messy mane and tail. I haven’t done my dreads yet so it was better than my actual mane was. Concentrating on the fetish, I tried to find any possible augments that were cheap and easy to do when the knocking of hooves at the door washed away my concentration.

The door opened to a pink furred unicorn mare with green mane and tail, “Excuse me, mister... Zhau, I’m here to…” She stopped, slowly raising a hoof to her mouth in shock. 

She looked at my bed. When I threw my saddlebag there, it flopped and the covers landed over it, making it appear like a sleeping pony. Then she looked at me, a mare she certainly knew, with messy hair, in a stranger’s room pretty early in the morning. Oh dear…

Her expression turned into one of embarrassment and anger, but why it felt like it wasn’t the first time it happened?! “Candy Apple, what are you doing?!” She whispered, trying not to wake “me” up.

How do I explain this situation?! If I turn back to normal they’ll think I’m a sick pervert weirdo, but if I stay this way things can get way out of hoof! “I… I…” was the only thing I managed to say.

I felt my left ear being pulled by the mare’s magic. “The stable is in a state of emergency and you’re sleeping with a stallion, again! By Celestia, it feels like I have to drag you away from some stallion's room every single morning!” She kept complaining, dragging me to corridors outside my room. “I have other things to do, go to the reactor room now!” She commanded so vigorously that I followed her instructions in fear of the possible punishment.

‘Hehe, even I couldn't do a better job myself.‘ Ishwa smirked, following behind me and enjoying my suffering. 


*** *** ***


I finally managed to find the generator room after twenty minutes of searching, it was huge! Huge machines and what looked to be giant sparkle batteries filled the two-story room. 

Following a little corridor to my right led me to the equipment storage room, where an open locker was holding Candy Apple’s barding and tools. I grabbed “my” stuff and entered the machinery room, three mares were already working on the damaged reactor when they saw me coming in and began to smoke mischievously. 

“Oh, hello there Candy Apple, how was your sleep? I mean, if you had any.” A green mare asked, giggling intensively. 

“Yeah, tell us about it! I’ve heard you managed to take that zebra to bed yesterday!” Smirked a gray mare. 

“No way, really? Damn, he has a nice flank, you’re so lucky!” Reinforced a pink mare, all three of them waiting for my response.

“I… I had a good night…” I tried to say, to be honest, it sounded better in my head…

“Haha, of course you had.” They laughed. “Either way, we have to finish here quickly if we want to get to the reunion with the Overmare in time, so everypony back to your jobs!” ordered the first mare. Now that I looked at it, she was wearing a more detailed version of “my” barding, so she was probably the head of the repair ponies around here.


*** *** ***


The first ten minutes of repairs weren’t easy, but at least I managed to fix the broken parts and change the computer board that connected the access terminal to the reactor with a bit of help. 

“Now, Candy Apple, work your magic.” The gray mare instructed, positioning me in front of the access terminal. 

“Um…  W-what magic?” I asked in fear. 

“What magic? Well, your magic of course! Since we reset the terminal, it must be set up to the factor! Careful tho, the controls are all messed up, but who's better at computers here than you, right? She explained, winking at her compliment to boost my confidence. 

Oh, ancestors… 

Pushing some random buttons, I was able to reconnect the terminal to the reactor, but I wasn't able to set it up! 

‘Hun, what do we have here?’ Ishwa asked in a sing-song voice, laying on the keyboard with a malevolent grin. 

Oh no… ‘Ishwa…  please…’

‘What? Don't worry, I won't mess anything up, it's not like somezebra teased me into embarrassment yesterday right? Lucky for you, I'm a Spirit of Forgiveness,’ she said dramatically as she put a single paw on top of a key. 

‘I’m sorry! Please spare me this time, I'll do whatever you want, I promise!’ I begged. 

‘Oh, you'll do whatever I want alright…’ She pressed the button. 

The whole system turned off as red warning light kept the Stable from being covered in darkness. Everything was silent save for the diabolical laughter coming from Ishwa as she appreciated her masterpiece. 


*** *** ***


Everything was fixed as the life in the Stable returned to its routine. Once again I was scolded and dragged to the Overmare’s office, where other stable dwellers waited for me, including the green mare by the name of Wonder Glue. 

“Ok, now that everyone is here, I’d like a report of the situation, please,” the Overmare said. 

A white and red mare wearing an apron and chef hat took a step forward and said, “Ma’am, our food storage is at half capacity. If we rationalize it well, it should last for about two months.”

“What about the medical clinic doctor Feel?” Asked the Overmare a dark brown unicorn wearing a doctor jacket, I think I saw him when Angel was treated.

“Almost half the lab is powered down because of that damaged reactor, but as far as our medicine storage goes, we’re well stocked. However, I’d like to make more since we’re planning on going outside…”

“Alright…” The Overmare looked at me and asked, “Candy, were you able to restore…” She leaned closer to me, inspecting me. I think she saw through my disguise!

“W-what’s wrong, ma’am?” I tried to diverge her attention, not really working.

“There’s something different about you…” She commented as I hid my cutie mark with my tail.
I was about to lose it when a red mare with messy orange mane and tail came in hurriedly, grabbing everypony’s attention.

“Sorry, I’m late Overmare! I overslept and when I tried to get here that crazy pegasus mare kept saying that it was time to leave and tried to drag me out of the Stable and…” She stopped when she saw me… She was the real Candy Apple!

Everypony’s eyes averted back to me as I slowly melted on my chair, with the most embarrassed smile I ever had in my life!


*** *** ***


“So, you woke up and began working on your fetish?” Cloud asked. We were sitting at the security station of the Stable, but she was sitting on a comfy chair in the waiting room while I was sitting on the floor of a detention cell, waiting for the Overmare to finish her reunion. 

“Yes,” I replied, blankly looking at the nearby wall.

“And then a random stable dweller mistakenly thought you were the real Candy Apple that slept with you in your room?”

“Yes…”

“Then your spirit animal…”

“Guardian Spirit” I corrected.

“Sorry, your “Guardian Spirit” messed up the reactor that cut the power of the whole Stable for a couple of minutes?”

“Yes”

“And finally the real pony you were disguised as showed up at a “private reunion” and now you’re being detained for spying?”

“... Yes.” That pretty much summed up the situation…

‘My greatest creation yet!’ Ishwa proclaimed, kissing the tip of her claws in a “perfecto” gesture.

Noticing Angel’s absence I asked, “Where is Angel?”

“She’s eating breakfast at the atrium, she woke up very hungry and very well rested!” Cloud answered happily, looks like the treatment worked well.

We continued our aimless chatter until the Overmare arrived accompanied by a security pony and doctor Stitches.

“Zebras sure love their espionage, hum?” She asked. It seems a bit of the war stuck with her too.

“That was a misunderstanding, ma’am…” I replied meekly.

“I know, I know, you’re free to go. But as the responsible for the Stable, I must take the proper action when the peace and security of the Stable are endangered, so as your “punishment”, I’d like to ask you a favor,” she said as if following protocol as the security mare opened my cell.

“What do you need?”

“As you know and overheard, the Stable is facing a great crisis, we need to find a new place to settle outside. Doctor Stitches volunteered to go outside and look for such place. I want you to serve as his bodyguard and keep him safe until he returns here.”

“What? No offense doctor, you saved my daughter, but I don’t think you’re up for it,” Cloud said, looking cynically to doctor Stitches.

“I think I can handle myself, and I can prove to be a valuable asset to the team with my medical skills.” He reassured with confidence.

“But why me?” I asked the Overmare, to be honest, I didn’t want to be responsible for another one's life.

“Because you’re the only outsider we know, and you seem to be good at surviving out there.” 
‘That he’s not I assure you.’ Ishwa replied, not really being heard, of course.

“Well, I did say you could request my aid, and protecting the life of the one that saved one of my friends is a good trade. Deal,” I gave her my hoof to shook, the deal was made.

‘Well, follow us then?” I asked doctor Stitches, who raised his hoof in response.

“I’ll gather my supplies, wait for me at the entrance please.” He walked away. 

The Overmare bid her farewell and returned to her work, leaving me and Cloud outside the security department.

“What are you doing now?”

“I thought about going back to Frontline City, gather some supplies,” she answered as we began to walk to the atrium to retrieve Angel.

“Would you mind if we take a longer path through the wilds? I’ve seen some herbs growing there that can be worth a while.” 

Thinking about it a little, she answered, “Yeah, ok.”

After we got Angel in the atrium, she gave our last goodbye to everypony as we went to the door to meet with doctor Stitches. Reaching the entrance chamber, Candy Apple was waiting for us. She gave us spare mechanical parts that could be useful, leaned closer to my ear and said, “If you’re into that kind of roleplay, look for me next time you’re here, okay?” with a wink at the end.

Ancestors, please smite me dead right now! 

“O-ok…” I said, hurrying my steps.

As we waited for the slow door to open Ishwa suddenly warned with fur standing on end, ‘Something’s waiting outside!’

As the door opened more and more I too could feel the waves of power, but they didn’t feel dangerous for some reason “There is something out, careful.”

The doors were fully open but there was nothing outside. We walked outside warily, back to back so nobody could get us from behind. Suddenly, a bright, hot ball of light came down on me like the sun itself tried to smite me! (I’m sorry I asked for it!)

When the angry sun was almost on top of me it swiped around us, landing in front of me. It was the phoenix! Everypony stood stunned behind me, especially doctor Stitches who turned into a statue, trying not to anger the giant phoenix with a single movement.

Ishwa flew in front of it to talk to it, unfortunately, I still wasn’t able to hear greater spirits.

‘It wants to follow us!’ Ishwa announced cheerily.

‘What?’ I couldn't believe such a powerful spirit wanted to follow me. ‘Why?’

After listening to the phoenix, Ishwa translated, ‘It said that you proved your value to it when you risked so much to save the child. Now it wants to make a pact with you so you have the means to keep her safe!’

I quickly fetched a wooden plank from my saddlebag, lit it on fire using my flint and stone and placed it in front of the phoenix while bowing low on the ground. The phoenix released a deafening screech and dove into the plank, carving it into a new mask.

“Wow!” Ishwa screamed in alarm as a huge surge of energy flowed through her body, her eyes shining white with power. When her body absorbed all that energy and she came back to herself, she was surprised by what she saw. 

She was much bigger! She grew almost half the size she originally had, her fangs, claws, and horns were pointier, her scales were shinier and her fur and feathers were smoother. She flexed her paws, testing her powers, with a deep grunt she opened her arms wide, sending a wave of energy around us.

At first, I thought nothing had happened, but then I saw that the few leaves that were falling off the trees were falling way slower! 

‘Ishwa, you can slow down time!’ I shouted jumping in place, happy for her.

‘I… I can… I CAN! Haha!’ She slowly released. Flying around and around like a bird that just learned how to fly. She crashed into me hugging me tightly. ‘Look at you! I’m almost your size!’

As she began to breath more heavily and sweat, time seemed to slowly return to its normal pace, she released her magic and said triumphantly, ‘Phew, that sure is tiring. but now, nothing can stop us! Haha!’ 

“Is that a normal thing to happen around here?” Doctor Stitches interrupted us. 

Cloud rolled her eyes and answered, “Only when Zhau is around.”

Angel ran to the mask and began inspecting it. “Was that the phoenix that you talked about?”

“Yes, that was, cool hum?” I asked with a smirk.

“Super cool! Do that again!” She beamed.

Smiling, I stored my new mask alongside its kin and asked if we should continue.


*** *** ***


The walk in the wild was mostly uneventful, doctor Stitches asked a lot of questions about the wasteland and its dangers, as we asked some questions about the Stable. 

As went deeper and deeper into the wild I began to notice something, all the places I remembered that had useful herbs had been harvested. It's not unusual for wild creatures to eat one or three herbs if they are feeling sick, but all of them? 

“Um, I think there’s something up ahead,” doctor Stitches said, looking at his pipbuck.

“How can you tell?” I asked out of curiosity.

“My pipbuck has an Eyes Forward Sparkle spell, it’s showing some red bars around us.” 

Of course, it's red.

Suddenly, the roaring of gunfire filled our ears as we tried to figure out from where the shots were coming from. The shots weren’t meant to hit us. They only meant to pin us down.

“Drop your weapons, raiders!” Came a deep voice from somewhere behind the dead trees.

“Raiders?” Doctor Stitches asked quietly. We’ve told him about that crazy ponies, so he knew that title didn’t belong to us. 

“We’re not raiders!” replied Cloud, crouching low above Angel, the lever of her battle saddle at the ready.

A zebra came out of the trees! He was carrying what looked to be an enchanted zebra rifle and wore some kind of tribal armor made of wood, hide and scrap metal. Despite all the scars he had on his back, I think his armor was more protective than mine.

“Brother, we’re not here to cause any trouble, we just want safe passage!” I said in Zebrican, somewhat happy at finally being able to speak my own language.

He looked confused. Lowering his gun he asked, “What?”

Oh, come on! “You do not speak Zebrican?” I deadpanned.

“Oh, no we don’t… but grandma Amaka does. She would like to speak with you, please follow me,” he said, turning around and disappearing behind the trees again.

“We should run now that we have the chance!” Cloud whispered to us. Bad idea.

“Zebras never hunt alone, if we try to run and angry them, these trees will be our tombstone,” I explained. By the looks of doctor Stitches, it seemed that he wasn’t accustomed to my rhyming yet…

“Fuck… Ok, stay below me, sweetie.” Cloud instructed her daughter, who nodded her response.

As we navigated our way through the denser woods, more and more zebras followed behind us, but I noticed that their equipment was way inferior compared to the one with the enchanted rifle. Their weapons were bone and scrap metal spears and if they had armor, it was a mere hide without any enchantments.

We reached a clearing and I couldn’t believe what awaited us there… A Zebra village! It was almost like a piece of Zebrica was lost in Equestria and now we found it!

Trees and foliage formed their buildings, a small well provided clean water to everyzebra. Zebra fillies and foals ran around playing with all sorts of trinkets. There was only one thing missing, they all had a heavy accent but none of them talked in Zebrican.

We were the center of attention as we were lead to a big shack on the far side of the village, the smell of aromatic herbs being burned permeated the place. Our escort that we learned was named Akachi announced our arrival to grandma Amaka, the village’s elder.

“Come in, come in!” Her cheerful, elderly voice beckoned us. Her tone so calming and strong at the same time.

Inside her room, a big cauldron was boiling a neon green liquid, some potion probably. The walls were filled with many flasks, herbs, animal parts, dust and all kinds of mysterious poultices.

“Ah, hello there outsiders! Hope anyzebra hasn’t hurt you.” She greeted us. She wore intricate clothing and extremely complex body painting. She surprisingly swiftly navigated around her cauldron and gave doctor Stitches a tight hug followed by another hug of Cloud who pushed Angel out of the way, fearing the elder might try something funny. It didn’t help much as she gave a boop on the nose of Angel, making her giggle and smile.

She then processed to hug me, which I returned kindly when she noticed Ishwa.

“Ah, you have a Spirit of Chaos following you around, that’s different. Hello there, what’s your name?” She asked Ishwa.

Both me and Ishwa were awestruck, grandma Amaka not only knew how to speak Zebrican, she could also see Ishwa as well!

‘You can see me?!’ Ishwa more exclaimed than asked.

“Of course I can dear, I haven’t become high shaman just to lay around until death finally claims me, you know.” She answered aloud, smiling.

“High shaman?!” I asked in surprise, bowing as low as I possibly could. A zebra high shaman in Equestria! What the hell?!

“Bah, no need for all that formality stuff dear, we have a lot of stuff to discuss!”





Footnote: Level Up! (7)

Skills Raised:
Repair: 18
Science: 18
Speech: 54 (+5 perk)
Barter: 44 (+5 perk)

New Perk:
Infiltrator: You've learned how to diverge ponies attention away from the flaws of your disguise! You gain +5 Speech and +5 Barter.

Quest Perk:
Spirit of Time: Ishwa has absorbed a fraction of the power from the Spirit of Time! She can now slow down time to everything except her and Zhausikuitri.
> Chapter 7 - The Darkness Inside
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raiders are really resilient creatures…

We were back at the old zebra encampment that was taken by raiders. Grandma Amaka said that this place was a raiders’ nest that endangered the unprotected village. At first, I thought I had cleared them all, but true to grandma’s words, there were more.

“Are you sure bringing your daughter here was a good idea?” Stitches asked Cloud for the tenth time.

“For fuck’s sake! I’m not leaving my filly alone in a village full of strangers! She’s staying with me.” Cloud stomped her hoof at the ground, ending the conversation.

He looked at me and gestured for me to talk to her. Not happening, I answered him, shaking my head.

There were three raiders outside the hut, maybe there were more inside. ‘Can you scout ahead, please?’ I asked Ishwa, who saluted and teleported away.

As I waited for her return, I tied my dagger to the tip of my tail and searched for useful items in my inventory, not finding anything particularly good.

‘There are four more raiders inside. They’re unboxing some kind of potion or drug…’

‘Okay, thanks.’ I turned to my companions to explain the situation. “There are four raiders inside, but they are busy. If we can take out these three outside stealthy, the fight will be easy.”

Cloud nodded, asking Angel to stay under cover and watch our saddlebags. She retrieved two silencers from her bag and attached them to her rifles.

“Alright, I'll shoot the one in the back. Can you take out the ones at the front?” Cloud asked, explaining her plan.

“Uhm, do we really need to shoot them? Couldn't we try a more diplomatic approach?” offered doctor Stitches. It was understandable, he lived his whole life in a Stable, he probably never saw anypony being shot prior to the Steel Rangers’ attack.

“Of course we have to!” Cloud answered, her patience proving to be in low supply. “If we let them leave they’ll just heal and come back later! Here in the wasteland, you need to do whatever you need to stay alive. Besides, a good raider is a butchered raider...” She concluded, a tone much darker than I expected.

“Unfortunately, I agree,” I said, trying to mediate things before it turns into an argument. “Raiders are mad and cruel, if we want to help the village, we can’t let them leave. I know you would prefer the diplomatic path. But this time, your comprehension is all that I ask.”

He didn’t like it very much but he agreed. “Okay, then I would like to stay with Angel if you don’t need me,” he asked.

“Sure.” Cloud dismissed him. “Ready?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, testing the knot of my tail on the dagger. ‘Time to put your new powers into action Ishwa.’

‘Those poor raiders will never know what hit them.’ She joked, ready to activate her powers.

“Three, two, one…” Cloud shot her rifles. The muffled sound of her guns signaled Ishwa to act.

Time slowed around me, bullets flying slowly toward their targets. I ran ahead of them to the two raiders at the left, the closest to us. They didn’t have time to react as I bucked one of them into the bullet’s path and slashed my dagger across the other’s throat. As time returned to its normal speed the two bullets pierced the air and found their targets inside the heads of the raiders, their bodies hitting the ground like meat bags.

Cloud looked at me dumbfounded. “How the hell did you do that?” she whispered.

“Ishwa did,” I whispered back.

She raised an eyebrow quizzically, she didn’t get it. We proceeded to the tent’s entrance, peeking inside. I saw the four raiders, one of them was inspecting some syringes with a suspicious greenish fluid. I gestured to Cloud where they were, she nodded and lined up her shot.

‘Can you slow time again Ishwa?’

‘Not yet… I need to rest…’ She panted. Well, it’s now or never…

I burst inside, surprising the distracted raiders, I ran toward the closest raider and tackled her to the floor. I heard a shot, the farthest raider was down. As I pinned the raider to the floor, Cloud entered the tent and lined up her next shot.

One of the raiders tried to flee but was shot down by Cloud as I broke the neck of the one I was pinning down and ran towards the last one with the syringe, turning in place to buck him.

He injected the strange fluid into his neck and began to twitch and grunt, his muscles began to contract and expand, veins could be seen through his hide and his eyes were turning bloodshot red.

What the hell? I bucked him in the chest but almost fell flat on my face as I lost my balance. He felt as solid as an oak!

He tackled me to the ground and stomped on my hind legs with full force, shattering them.

The pain was unbearable! I tried to drag myself away but he held me still, raising his hoof for another hit.

Cloud shot her rifles at him, hitting his back. He stumbled forward and let me go. As I dragged myself away I saw something terrifying, the two, giant holes in his back were closing!

He turned his attention to Cloud, walking slowly toward her as she shot him again and again to no avail.

“What’s the matter little bitch? Can’t kill me?” He teased with an evil grin.

Cloud backed away from him, outside the tent, giving me time to recover.

‘Ishwa get me a healing potion!’ I asked, desperate to end that pain.

‘We don’t have any!’ she replied in panic, searching for anything to help me.

‘Call doctor Stitches!’ I asked again. At that point, I wasn’t able to think straight.

‘He can’t see me!’ she shouted, pissed and worried. ‘Please just hang on!’

I heard the sound of a soft object hitting a solid surface and Cloud’s screams of pain. She needed help!

In my dazed, worried state I got an idea. ‘Ishwa get my skull!’

‘What are you going to do with that?’ She questioned, worried about my request.

‘Bring it now!’ I ordered.

As she flew away to retrieve the items, two more shots were fired again, another laugh could be heard.

Ishwa returned with my skull and gave it to me. Time to unleash its true powers.

I cut my left front hoof with my dagger and printed a bloody horseshoe in the skull, its eye sockets began glowing with dark purple magic, I could almost feel the mask calling to me as I approached it to my face.

Ishwa immediately knew what I was about to do, but had no time to intervene. ‘Zhau! Don’t do it!’

I’ve put the skull on. I could feel its dark magic coursing through my body as it forced my bones into place, the pain making me scream in agony. The skull changed my body, my black stripes turning into a white skeleton as my white coat turned black.

Dark magic seeping through my eyes, I got up. It was time to play.

Cloud was still fighting that mutated raider when I got out, the drive to kill clouding my thoughts. I stomped my hooves to get his attention. “So, you like breaking bones? Let’s see how easy they break you…” I said in Zebrican. I didn’t really know what I was doing anymore, I was only doing what I was compelled to.

I sat on the ground, and with a simple gesture, dark purple cords could be seen connecting my hooves to something inside the tent, necromantic magic escaping through the holes in the cloth.

The mutated raider charged me with the strength of a train, fully intent on ending it then and there. Two more hoof gestures and he stopped, grunting in pain, four blade-like objects piercing his back. He tried to turn his head to look what that was and despite all his mutated muscles and strength, he was scared.

My hooves were connected to the corpses of the three dead raiders, their bodies disfigured and transformed, hardened hide and bone scythes replacing their fur and hooves. My new puppets.

“What’s the matter, big guy? Don’t be shy, give your friends a big hug!” I heard my voice say, feeling more and more distant from consciousness.

I clapped my hooves together, ordering the corpses to attack. The raider gave a mighty buck at the corpse at his back and dodged the attacks. He charged me again, forcing me to get up and sidestep, his attacks were powerful, but slow enough for me to avoid.

Each kick or punch he threw I dodged and a corpse would cut him. More and more he was beginning to feel weak as he struggled to stay upright. He looked in shock as his wounds weren't closing, and instead, the same dark purple magic seeped from the gaps in his flesh.

“It’s hard to regenerate when your soul is being reaped apart, isn’t it?” I asked with a maniacal laugh, almost losing my mind.

Noticing he didn’t have the endurance to fight anymore, a gave him a bow, and with that all the corpses charged him, dicing him in one single strike.

With the threat gone, I stood there, motionless. I could hear the distant voice of Ishwa calling. But something else... someone else, was in control.

“What the hell Zhau?” Cloud’s voice snapped me out of my stupor. She was bruised and limping but otherwise, she was fine.

A wide grin appeared on my face as I brought the corpses to attention again. “Oh, I almost forgot about you!”

I approached her with my puppets, their bone scythes eager to spill her blood. She began backing away, her rifles without ammo. “What are you doing…?” she asked, slowly reaching for more ammo.

“Wasn’t that what you wanted? Butchered raiders?” As I continued to advance, flavoring in her fear, she backed herself against a tree, end of the line.

I could feel Ishwa tugging at me, trying to bring me back, but to no avail. I raised my hoof, my puppets doing the same when I heard Angel’s voice, her voice resonating in my mind like an echo.

“Mom? Is everything okay?”

She and Dr. Stitches had arrived upon hearing the sound of silence, thinking that the danger was over.

I felt a sharp pain on my mind as secondary voice roared in agony, leaving my body in a hurry.

My stripes changed back to normal and my mind was clear again. Ishwa’s callings came back at full volume.

‘Snap out of it!’

I quickly threw the skull away, its eye sockets releasing their final glow of dark magic.

‘What have I done?’ I asked Ishwa in worry, falling back on my haunches.

‘Thank the ancestors you’re back!’ Ishwa hugged me. I was almost feeling relief when she suddenly slapped me hard on the face, completely bringing me to full attention.

‘What the fuck were you thinking you retard! You know that thing has way more control over you than you gave it credit!’ She scolded me.

‘I’m sorry! That raider didn’t die by anything! I had to do something to protect Cloud!’

I heard a click, Cloud’s rifles were pointed at my head, her gaze fixed on me, her instance giving an aura of wariness and anger.

“Cloud I-I…”

“Stay away you FREAK!” She screamed, fully determined to killing me if I didn’t obey.

Angel and Dr. Stitches approached her as I backed off, both scared of me… especially Angel.

“That was necromancy? You told us at the Stable that you didn’t know necromancy!” Dr. Stitches pointed an accusatory hoof at me, I was cornered.

“I… I lied… but wait…”

“‘Wait’ my ass!” Cloud interrupted. “You looked really happy as you played with that raider! I’m not letting my daughter stay near you any longer! Come Angel.”

Cloud put Angel over her back and began trotting away but was stopped by Dr. Stitches.

“Wait, wait! Angel’s treatment was pretty recent, her body needs rest for it to take full effect, it’s too risky to force her body right now. Let her rest today at the zebra village and you can leave tomorrow.”

“But we can’t stay with that thing!” She barked, pointing at me.

“I know he lied to us, but he’s one more set of eyes and hooves in case we find more raiders on the way back!”

They argued like I wasn’t there. It hurt, but I was in no position to argue, they were right.

Cloud pointed her guns at me again and ordered, “Walk.”

I guess I’m a prisoner now.


*** *** ***


The walk back was uneventful and torturously tense, nobody was in the mood for talking and I was under constant gun aim, my possessions confiscated.

‘I messed up bad…’ I muttered

‘Not even I could do worse.’

‘What do you think will happen now?’

‘Well, I guess your actions will be judged by them… Let’s hope your good deeds outweigh the bad ones…’

We arrived at the village, an imposing aura irradiated from there. It was stronger than anything I’ve seen before, even Ishwa was cowering behind us.

There, talking with grandma Amaka, was a powerful spirit, more powerful than a common greater spirit. It was a Kirin, a hybrid between horse and dragon but he looked totally encased in armor and clothing, not a single fur or skin could be seen. He was talking with grandma, the two seemed to know each other for a long time.

“What happened child?” grandma asked upon seeing me being aimed at.

“Zhau used necromancy and almost attacked Miss Cloud,” Dr. Stitches explained, showing her the skull.

“Ah, I see. Come with me, children.” She beckoned us.

She led us to a great bonfire in the middle of the village, a ritual circle.

“Please, sit,” she said, other zebras coming along as well, curious to see what grandma would do.

“Tell me, child, what did you saw?” she asked Cloud, grabbing a bit of powder from a nearby bowl.

“A crazy zebra that tried to kill me,” Cloud answered coldly.

“Ah, but was that what you really saw?” Grandma pressed on, throwing the powder into the bonfire. The powder ignited and a green smoke cloud began to form above it.

Cloud took a while to answer, pondering the question. “There was something else…”

“Indeed child.” Grandma took the skull in her hooves, inspecting it. “This skull is what we call a “Soul Jar” an object infused with the soul of a living being. It can’t be destroyed by normal ways. But it’s not a normal Soul Jar, it’s also a prison and a curse.”

Grandma Amaka threw the skull into the fire but instead of burning, it emitted a dark purple smoke, almost black, that contaminated and consumed the formerly green colors. From the smoke a twisted form could be seen, it wasn’t a skeleton, but it wasn’t a zebra either… it was something in between. It trashed and kicked, trying to get out, its silent features screamed in agony and grief, even a bit of sadness.

“You see child? That is a spirit of a zebra shaman, one that probably turned into using dark magic, a necromancer.” Grandma explained to us, Cloud and Stitches’ attention being held by her words.

“Now, let us see what truly happened.” Grandma Amaka chanted a ritual in ancient Zebrican, her chanting proved her deep and advanced knowledge of shamanism. When she finished the skull levitated away from the fire and two slender, faceless spirits with dark tendrils growing out of their backs appeared near it. Spirits of Secrets.

She asked them to reveal the truth, it felt like grandma Amaka already had employed these spirits before. The skull began to spin faster and faster, charging with energy. The spirits flew toward the now green smoke and released the skull’s magic into it, creating a foggy image of what happened at the raiders camp.

We watched the vision as it showed through my eyes what happened while the spirits whispered to grandma the details.

When the vision ended, the spirits were gone. Grandma Amaka stumbled as she paid the toll for their services but was caught by the powerful spirit that was talking to her when we arrived.

“I told you to stop calling the faceless Amaka, your body has reached its limit,” it said, its voice serene and a bit tired, like it told that many times before.

“Bah, you worry too much Dice, I’m okay.” She got to her hooves again and returned her attention to Cloud. “You see child? He lied to you, yes, but he didn’t mean to hurt you, he tried to help you.”

Cloud was silent, deep in thought. I didn’t recover her full trust, but at least she knew the truth now.

“Now, you must be hungry after all the work today. Why don’t we eat at the bonfire?” Grandma asked, the whole village cheering.


*** *** ***


The food was tasty and plentiful, but now supper was finished and various zebras began sharing stories, about their past, about their plans, about their hopes.

I approached grandma Amaka who was laying on her pillow while enjoying the stories.

“I thank you, elder. How will I be able to repay your help?” I thanked her with a low bow.

“I only told a story child. But if you want to repay me, why don’t you tell us a story of your own? I’ve heard that you seek the title of Story Weaver, correct?”

That surprised me, she probably heard that from the Spirits of Whispers.

Wanting to fulfill her request, I nodded. “I’d be honored, elder Amaka.”

Smiling, she raised her hoof to get the attention of the others. “My children, let us heard the story Zhau has to tell us!”

The zebras cheered as I took place at the center of the circle, having their full attention, I’ve activated my fetish to help me translate my words so everyzebra and pony could understand.

“Okay, here we go…”


~~~ ~~~ ~~~


Years have passed, Iana had found a good tree that she carved into her home, it was sturdy and hidden, its wooden walls helped to isolate her and her colt from the cold, but offered little protection against wild creatures.

Life was difficult for the two, the land only offered a few crops that prevented them from starving, nothing more. Iana was able to find her old tribe and trade with them for supplies, but she couldn’t return, her old village sustained a good relationship with her former home, if they discovered that Zaki was cursed, they would hunt him down.

Zaki grew into a young stallion, cautious and lively but his heart was heavy with grief for his mother. He knew what happened to her and despite all her comforting and reassurance that it wasn’t his fault, he knew it was.

One day while scavenging for supplies, Zaki was found by a shaman from her mother’s village. The shaman recognized him almost instantly for his features resembled his mother’s. Their eyes met and the shaman knew, he was star-marked.

Things got worse, his mother couldn’t trade with her village anymore, and she was planning on moving again to avoid persecution.

Zaki knew his mother has finally adjusted to their home, together they had worked so hard to keep the place safe and comfortable. He couldn’t let her suffer through all that again, so one night, he gathered some supplies and the only possession he had to remember his father by, his dragon bone armor that his mother stole when she fled.

With everything stored in his saddlebags and one last goodnight kiss on his sleeping mother’s forehead, he left.


~~~ ~~~ ~~~


Everyzebra liked my story, but it was getting late and it was time to sleep. Everyzebra had gathered their things and left, grandma Amaka showed Cloud, Angel, and Dr. Stitches their huts when I was about to find mine, but I was intercepted by that strange spirit that stayed with us for the whole evening, it was really uncommon for greater spirits to stay within the presence of mortals for such a long time, especially one of its caliber.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Zhausikuitri,” it said, its voice had an echo that made it impossible to distinguish its gender or age, alongside its armor, it was completely anonymous.

“You wanted to meet me? Who are you?”

“My name is Dice, I represent the random encounters of the wasteland. And yes, I do want to meet you, in fact, I have a gift for you,” it said, grabbing a four sided dice bound to a delicate necklace chain, it was replete with powerful magical energy. The dice was the most interesting artifact I’ve ever seen, its four faces had special, unreadable runes carved into them instead of numbers.

“That dice is custom made for you, it’s special.” It complemented.

‘What about it?’ Ishwa asked, much more at ease within its presence.

“You’ll both discover when the time is right, just know that we’ll see each other again,” it replied, bowing its goodbye and disappearing.

Ishwa, inspecting the dice closer, said, ‘Now that’s something to look forward to…’





Footnote: Level Up! (8)

Skills Raised:
Melee Weapons: 29
Survival: 60
Unarmed: 48

New perk:
Bloody End: Your dark magic deals +5% damage

New Curse:
The Darkest Place: Every time you kill something with dark magic, you'll lose more control of yourself