Chapter 11: Return

"What do you fear the most? Death? Fear itself? Giant spiders? Take that, your deepest fear, and multiply it ten gabillion times, and that's what it’s like living out here..."

My eyes snapped open to the sound of artillery shells whistling. I jumped out of my rack and threw on my helmet and armor. A red unicorn ran by the doorway, yelling that the Zebras are attacking from the south. I sprinted out of the room to the open campsite overlooking the gulch. The skies were blood red from fire and haze, the color of war. All around me was battle. The screams of anguish and battle cries. The wind smelled of iron and ash. I saw both zebra and ponies alike charging with spears and bayonets. Gunfire rang as loud as the cannons that fired their own payload. Balloons above floated menacingly, firing machine guns at the pegasi that held them back.

A large shell exploded behind me, blowing up my bunker and sending me into the dirt on my face. I scrabbled to my hooves as another round whistled towards my position. I dived into the closest trench, knocking over shell-shocked kinsponies. I pushed through the oil and blood soaked mud as I ran to a fallen pony, her lower have a jumbled mess of viscera. She grabbed hold of me, shaking from shock and fear. Her eyes bloodshot. She gasped, trying to get words out, but without prevail. She slumped in my legs, her last breath leaving her still body. I took a moment to pray for her safe journey to the heavens. I took up her rifle, slung it to my back, and started towards the command post up the hill a ways.

The war had taken a toll of the once peaceful countryside. Giant holes pitted the fields and trenches lined the land as far as I could see. I saw a flight of pegasi scream past me, lead by Rainbow Dash herself. The group dropped ordnance on the enemy and supplies to our side. A bullet slammed into my side, my metal armor taking the shot. I slipped into the trench, huffing and puffing as I tried to catch my breath.

“Captain! Over here!” A gruff stallion with an eyepatch yelled to me, waving me to come to his position. I fixed my helmet and began to crawl to him.

A bomb dropped onto the stallion, making him and everything close to him a mist of stone and dirt. I covered my head as the debris slammed into me. I felt a hoof grab me and flip me over to another red coated stallion. Behind him in the sky filled me with dread.

A giant Pinkie Pie hot air balloon floated menacingly towards the enemy camp. A single missile was strapped to its underside. It’s twin turbine engine hummed violently, cutting through the sky with vigorous intent. I snapped out of my trance to find the red unicorn waving to me a ways down the trench. I picked myself up from the ground, wiping away the viscera from the elder stallion. I galloped towards the unicorn at full speed. I felt the air around me tear and scream with bullets trying to find a home in me. A large crack of thunder sounded above me, shaking the earth and sky. I looked up to see the air balloon on fire, losing altitude rapidly. The aircraft swerved and pitched as it positioned its descent towards the enemy positions in the distance. A hoof grabbed me by the collar of my armor, throwing me into the trench. The piercing violet eyes staring down at me as a shell screamed above us, exploding behind the pit, sending dirt and mud into the sky. we crawled towards the hole in the hill. The red unicorn pushed me inside, slamming the door behind us and securing the lock. I attempted to catch my breath to cease my hyperventilation. I looked up to see the only pony in the world that I could relate to.

Reign, without his metal appendage, stared out the window, watching the horror of the war unfold.

A loud explosion and violent rumbling ensued as the airship slammed into the ground. Reign, (as well as the door), flew back, pinning Reign and I underneath the heavy metal door. After several minutes, the noise died down, leaving nothing but eerie silence. we cautiously poked our heads outside, back into the hell-bathed landscape.

Nothing was left. the balloon lay scattered everywhere. the missile had detonated, leaving a massive, barren, glassy-looking hole far in the countryside. A glowing green cloud had formed in the air above the site. The Equestrian army had detonated its first balefire missile on the Zebra menace, leaving nothing alive besides the lucky few that were fleeing in all directions. The deafening silence was only worsened as the moans and screams of the wounded and hurt started to fill the sky once more, sending chills up my spine. Reign and I turned to each other, wide-eyed.

"...Lieutenant.... What have you done?" I asked. it almost sounded like I was asking myself the same thing.

"I don't rightly know, Captain... but I have the feeling.... that this is just the start..." He turned away from me the stare at the destruction of our once beautiful countryside.

My skull suddenly felt hot as another flash of light and searing pain barreled through my brain, causing me to blackout once again.

I woke up screaming in the old gurney. No pony was near me as my eyes darted around my surroundings. The afternoon rains drizzled on the lone window above my head. I attempted to stop my sporadic breathing. I laid my head in my forehooves and trembled.

"What in Celestia's name is going on?! What is happening to me?!" I stammered.

"Your amnesia is wearing off is what."

I looked up to see the red stallion from my nightmare standing in the doorway. Reign past the threshold, balancing a tray of snack cakes and tea on his back. He levitated the tray to the nightstand next to the bed, his golden magic flickering slightly from his broken horn. He looked more grumpy than usual today as he hooved over a mug and a cake on a saucer. He pulled over a chair and sat beside me, taking a sip from his personal steel stein. I eyed him puzzlingly. I took a swig from my mug, surprised at the lemon and ginger taste. I smacked my dry lips.

"Good?" He asked, not taking his gaze off the contents of his cup. I nodded as I took another gulp and took a nibble off the cake.

"Wait. You said amnesia? What do you mean?" I asked, chewing on the stale food. Reign took a few seconds, absentmindedly swirling his drink. finally he let out a small sigh, sitting up in his chair.

"It's exactly what I said. I thought it would be permanent, so I'm quite surprised." He rubbed his chin in thought.

What? I shook my head.

"That doesn't make any damned sense. What amnesia? What was supposed to be permanent?" I shouted, clearly shaken. "Please, if you know what the hell's happening to me, tell me!" Reign placed a hoof on my shoulder to try to calm me down.
"It's rather hard to explain, but right now, you'll get the short, blunt version." He leaned foreword towards me. I leaned in in anticipation and bated breath, inches from Reign's muzzle.

"Your name isn't Elric Faelan, I'm afraid. Your actual name is in fact, Captain DJ Harmony. three days before the world went to ruin, you were sentenced to death by Princess Celestia herself for treason against the country."

It took Reign several minutes to calm me down. He tried his best to explain, but I did not listen to a word.

"H-H-How?! Why? Wha-" Reign shoved his hoof in my mouth, shutting me up. I had enough questions to fill a book. several books. A library.

Reign removed his hoof, wearing a solemn look. He slid out of the chair and motioned me to follow.

" The best way to explain is to show you the actual thing. And that means only one way I know how."

"How?" I asked, sliding out of the gurney, carefully unhooking myself from the heart monitor. I pushed all the questions to the back of my mind for later. I was having extreme doubts of his outrageous claim. I spread my wings, fluttering them to uncramp the joints. I picked up my barding, noticing immediately that it was pretty much useless and needed repaired or replaced. I followed the stallion out into the living room where Blitz, Whipleash, Lucky, and Doctor Stein sat discussing the issues of town. As soon as they saw me however, a series of tackles and pats with "I've been worried sick." and "Why did you faint?". I apologized many times before each one calmed down. My brother's wounds seemed better, but not much had changed.

After going over the events following the escape from the farm, , Whipleash nodded and put on a slight smile.

“This Red character… I know both her and her brother, Grey Oak. He is the blacksmith down in the square. He has quite a reputation right now. He is hated by both raider and Slavers both. His sister…. She is a suspicious pony. Not much is known about her.” He placed his head on his joined hooves in thought, giving off a stern look.

“How is that?” I asked.

Doc and Reign looked at each other, smiles slowly spreading on their lips. Whip waved off the question, returning to his old smile.

“Don’t worry too much about it. You have other pressing matters to attend to.”

Blitz looked down to the ground, rubbing his chest. Lucky looked perplexed.

“Yeah… I suppose I do…” I said, looking at everyone in the room.

As Reign pulled out a map and compass, Doctor Stein spun around to the table with a sigh. “I still don’t like this idea of yours, Reign. We still don’t know if he can handle the shock.”

I cast a glance at the medical pony, brow raised.

“He has to know, Stein. Before he find out the more painful way.” The unicorn countered.

“Woah, Woah… Wait. You KNEW about this?” I questioned the doctor. Stein leaned back, taking off his glasses and wiped away on the lenses, looking eyes with me with a steely gaze.

“I knew the minute where first came through that front door. I knew it the minute when the captain saw you on the gurney.” Stein replaced his glasses on his nose.

My jaw dropped as my rump fell the the ground in disbelief.

“So, you al-”

“This doesn’t change who you are, Elric.” Reign interjected. “It just puts a new perspective on some of the current issues.” He placed a hoof on my shoulder, which I brushed off immediately. He reeled back a bit, but didn’t let up. “We understand your doubts. I would too in your position. But think about it. The sudden headaches after looking at looking at DJ’s promotion memory? The fight or flight instincts that fell military trained?”

I took a few seconds in thought, then squinted at Reign skeptically.

“Okay… so what do you want to do?” I asked.

“I propose that we go back and show you the last few days of your old life. I know where, You just need the how-to.” Reign pointed at my Pip-buck. I looked down at my foreleg, and to Blitz.

“Blitz? What’s your take on this?” I asked, knowing that my own brother would have my back on this. What I got was no response. My heart dropped in my stomach. Did he already know?

Before I got an answer, he got off the couch and silently trudged into the backrooms.

“Your brother was….against putting you through this in the first place.” Stein spoke up. “ And for good reason. Your brother was the Overstallion, correct? So he knows the secrets your Stable held.”

My own brother kept this from me.I started to consider some of the claims about me. But this...saying I’m a 200-year-old guard captain? And if so, why would he have been sentenced to death by one of the Goddesses? And Reign… how does he fit into this? He sure as hell doesn’t look over 2 centuries old. And what DID my brother know? It sent shivers down my spine. This was getting way too eerie for my taste.

“Okay, so let's say that you’re right about this and that I really am this DJ pony. How, or even why, do I only remember my entire life consisting of the walls of Stable 132?” I questioned, visibly shaken.

“That can be explained in due time, but please... It is imperative that we find out exactly what’s going on. We don’t have much time.” Whipleash fidgeted in his wheelchair. I turned to everyone present, all looking nervous and clearly upset about something. Then a thought occurred to me. I was gone for almost a week. Lucky got back only three days prior.

“What happened while I was gone?” I asked, looking at all the nervous ponies.

“A detective of sorts came by the day after you left, asking around for “The Blue Pegasus”. He had a entourage of other ponies, all dressed in black and armed. They stated we are harboring a war criminal and a traitor to ponykind. So, fearing the worst, one of the towns ponies told them where to find you and where you were heading.” Whipleash stole a glance at lucky, who was sucking down his drink, and put on a small smile.

“Well, they didn’t take the answer to much and took an offense to it. They tried to arrest Ms. Cloud for a comment and… well, Echelon is a intimidating piece of equipment.” The crippled stallion sighed, folded his hooves on his lap. “Reign also took a look at the orb you found at the Raider Farm. We agreed it was about time to tell you the truth since you stumbled onto a memory of your past.” I shot Reign a accusing look for going through my stuff, but received a shrug in response.

“So now what? You really expect me to believe all this nonsense about being this DJ character?” I asked again, nostrils flaring.

“Again, not really. It’s definitely a lot to take in. that’s why you need to go with Reign’s plan.” Stein responded.

Reign got up from his spot and reached over his leg rest, picking up the box which held the glowing glass orb.

“This is only a small fragment of DJ’s memory. YOUR memory before the war.This,” Shaking the box to make a point, “This one and many others are out there, waiting for you to go get them back. You get flashes and fevered dreams of the war and old life ,which is normal (I guess) after breaking the spell on your mind. Something happened that night you supposedly died, and it could be the answer to everything. Even about what that Lord Kalem wanted in the first place.” Reign threw the box to me. “So I want to take you to the burial grounds of the great captain and find what remains of your former self.”

My heart dropped as I finally caught onto what Reign was proposing.

“You want me to go back to Stable 132?! To find….Whatever...to bring back memories of a two century old captain of the Royal Guard? That was sentenced to death by the same Princesses that he swore to protect for the crime of treason? Am I missing anything?”

Oblivious to my sarcasm, Reign just shook his head with a solid “nnope.” I sat back down on the couch, my mind going wild and questions that made the proverbial library in my mind even bigger, nothing that settled the thoughts. I sat there for several minutes, trying to process what in the hell was going on. After ending the debate with all the little me’s in my head, I looked up to my four friends, eyes full of fire.

“This better had be worth it…”

After discussing the route on which we were taking, Reign left to go get our supplies and repair my equipment. I tried to talk to my brother, but he had locked himself in the bathroom, not allowing me the courtesy.

“Blitz, Please. Come on out, brother. Answer me.” I continued to knock on the door, But silence was all I got for a response. I felt a hoof on my shoulder. Doctor Stein just shook his head.

“I’ll take good care of him, Elric. Don’t you worry.” Doc turned away and returned to the common space.

“Alright… I’ll be right back. I love you, Blitz. Stay safe. Whatever happens, You’re still my brother.” I waited for a moment, removed my hoof from the door, and shuffled back to the words in the living room. Whipleash had finished organizing my saddlebags and supplies, leaving plenty of space for any loot and salvage that we may find. He even went out of his way to sell off all the junk, leaving me with a decent amount of caps. Doc helped me placed the saddlebags on my back and hurried me out the the door with a smile and a door to my rump.

The rain hadn’t let up in the slightest. I trudged through the mud in the dim-lit town square in search of the Captain. The evening was silent in the light pitter-patter, making the town feel like a ghost town. I found it unnatural when the town becomes vacant. I looked up to the sky, hoping for a relief.

I turned the corner to run into what felt like a brick wall. I fell back on my tail with a nicker, rubbing my head. I looked up with a tear in my eye to see a giant scruffy, tan stallion. His square jaw was lined with stubble. His piercing blue eyes stared down at me at my in slight annoyance

“Watch wer’ ya goin’, mate.” the gruff stallion spoke. I stood up to find me looking eye-to-eye with the grumpiest looking stallion I’ve ever seen. His eyes held a fierce look, as if he had seen the worst the world had to offer. On his back was a giant broadsword in its sheath.

“I apologize, sir. I didn’t-” I started before he put himself face-to-face with him. For several moments we stood there, nose-to-nose, eyes locked with each other. Neither of us stood down.

Until he licked my face. By reflex, i stumbled back, wiping away the slobber.

The stallion busted out laughing. Head leaned back with the outburst. I stared at the crazy pony as he wiped away a tear in his eye.

“Ha...hoo… I-I’m sorry, bruv. Oh… ha… i have a bet… wit’ Reign and sis to see if I could break your grumpiness.” He choked through his giggling. He reached out a hoof with a big smile. “Name’s Grey Oak. I believe i have you to thank for harassin’ me sister.” his eyes held the ire of a crazy stallion too. I let in a gulp.

After much needed deliberation of who shot at who first and who’s fault it was that started the scuffle with Red, we came to the crossroad that we both needed to be present for the talk. Grey Oak walked with me to the Pastureland Pride, were Lucky and the others were waiting for us. Thunder cracked in the distance to the north. My mind was racing the entire day, causing a near anxiety attack on several occasions, the silence with the wind through Charity spooked me out.

“The Captain says you two are going to that stable in the south. The one where Those agent-ponies went off ta.” Grey Oak spoke up, pushing away a tumbleweed out of his path. I looked up to the brawny pony with a cocked eyebrow.

“The Agents went to the stable?” I replied.

“Supposedly. I don’t know why, but you, my friend…. Seem to stir up trouble....” Grey’s ears flattened to his head with a grumble, something to do with Red. I looked away slowly.

This pony is cracked for sure.

We walked through the door to find Barkeep still in his usual spot and routine, wiping away grime out of a mug with a dirty washcloth. Reign, Red, and Lucky all sat in the farthest booth, Lucky’s back to me. We trotted up to the group to find Lucky geared up with his saddlebags. Before I could say anything, he glanced at me with a solemn expression.

“I’m not going.” Lucky stated

“I don’t expect you to, with how-” I tried to reply, but Lucky threw up a hoof.

“No. I’m not going…. Because I’m leaving.”

I was floored. I stammered out to ask why, but he already was on a roll.

“Don’t try to convince me otherwise. I have been around enough times to see where this was going. With Polaris after us and Kalem after whatever in your stable, now you’re being hunted by a group of black suited agents? No. No thank you, I’m washing my hooves of all this. I’m packing up and heading to Manehattan to try to pick up the pieces of my old life.” He fumbled through his saddlebags.

I sat down and hung my head. I was losing one of my closest friends. And for reasons out of my control. What was I supposed to say? He had risked his life for me and my brother in the past week then he had in his whole life probably. Lucky turned to me with a small book with scribbles and poorly drawn creatures on the cover, titled “The Wasteland Survival Guide, written by Ditzy Doo.”

“ Here. I was given this whilst I was in Chapel a few weeks ago by a rather gloomy stallion. He said that it’s not helping ‘Her’ at all, but it should help me. I looked up to my friend with a tear in my eye.

“but...Why so soon? Can’t we just talk this out?” I implored. He just shook his head.

“Truth is, L. Your life seems to draw all sorts of danger and trouble to you like flies to rotten flesh. I’ve seen heroes like you succumb to the evils of the Wasteland, or become insane or worse, and I don’t want to be a part of this any longer.” He reached over and pulled me into a hug. “If you ever find yourself in Manehattan, you can find me a Tenpony Tower.” He patted my shoulder and started off towards the stairs. Reign grabbed me as I tried to go after him. As the door closed behind him, I could have sworn I heard a sniffle.

“He’ll be fine, Elric. Let’s focus on the task on hoof.” Reign spoke, tapping my backside with his metal hoof. I spun around to the rest of the group. I was in shock from all of it. Lucky leaving abruptly, Reign’s outrageous suggestion of me being a 220-year-old Guard Captain, and the fact I’m going home… where there was nothing but death.

I locked my teeth tightly. This had BETTER… be worth it…

Level up!: Your knowledge of survival increased by 10.