Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud returned to their comrades, and broke the news to them. While they were overall a little surprised that Quantum Tech would be joining them on a journey that they already knew was perilous, they were even more appalled at the circumstances as to why. “That’s horrible! Her parents ought to be punished!” Spiral Galaxy said.
“I’m a hafta drop by d’here, and make all ’em say ‘hi’ to my hammer d’ho! See how social d’hey is d’hen!” Turf War commented.
“Yeah, they suck, but they don’t matter anymore. Quantum’s coming with us, so the only thing she’ll have to worry about is not letting any more monsters we bump into make her into a snack…..which will be kinda tough for her.” Fire Fight said.
“Ah reckon that’s what she’ll have us for. We’ll just have to make a point of makin’ her feel welcome.” Kickback said.
“We’ll bake her an earthworm cake, and sing her old folksongs about the little people that live in your carpets!” Crazylocks blurted.
“Er…..Maybe not quite something like that, but I’d presume to show her respect at the very least.” Air Slash said.
“Indeed.” Shadow Shroud said. When she looked out through the hole in the wall, she could see that night had fallen. She donned her mask. “I’ll be right back.” She then set out into the night.
*****
Quantum Tech lay solemnly in her bed. Today couldn’t have been worse for her. Everything she had ever hoped to do, all of the opportunities that she had earned for herself were just taken from her, thrown away like yesterday’s trash. Were her father’s words true? Would Equestria really so readily reject her studies for the sake of keeping old traditions? Was she blind in her own grand vision?.......No……She had a passion that she wanted to pursue, one that would make her feel fulfilled. Her parents may take science from her hooves, but never from her heart! All she had to do was wait for her salvation to come.
“OOF!” Quantum Tech quickly rose out of her bed when she heard the sound of one of her butlers being hit. Her door then opened, and said butler fell through the door in an unconscious heap. Quantum gasped. She jumped out of bed, and ran over to him. As she was about to examine him, she heard somepony jump down from behind her.
“Sleep well?” they whispered.
Quantum Tech whipped around to see a foal her age completely covered in a pitch-black cloth with their amethyst eyes shining through. “W-What!? Who….Who are you!? E-Explain yourself!” she demanded.
The figure removing their mask to reveal the filly she knew as ‘Precious Gem’. Quantum Tech gasped. “You! You….You actually came! B-But…..what…..how?”
“Worry not, sister. Everypony in this household of yours has been either knocked out cold, or tranquilized. They won’t be getting up for quite a long while. Did you do as I asked and pack what you could take?” Shadow Shroud asked.
Quantum Tech was a little unnerved at her words. While she now detested her parents, for this stranger to go to such extremes for her was……strangely comforting as it was unsettling, but Fire Fight seemed to trust her, so she stuck to her resolve. “Not….quite everything. I managed to save my journal as well as three complete hornbands. I also made a point of packing a water bottle, some food and a sizable sum of my parents’ wealth, 150 bits to be exact.” She answered.
Shadow Shroud was caught off guard. “150 bits!? That’s…..quite generous of you!....and sneaky. I like that.” She said. “Although it sounds to me as though you’re ready. What else could you possibly want to bring?”
“Well……if it’s of no inconvenience……could we go to the dump to retrieve what we can of my experimenting tools?” Quantum asked.
“Let’s get you to where we’re hiding out first. I’ll handle that myself, but I’ll only be able to grab a hooffull.” Shroud replied.
“Hmm….well, alright then. Off we go?” Quantum asked.
Shadow Shroud donned her mask once more. “Just follow my lead, and stick to the shadows.”
Quantum Tech nodded. “Thank you, Precious Gem.” She said.
“Oh! <devilish giggle> I’m sorry, Quantum Tech, but I wasn’t being totally honest with you before. That’s not my actual name.” Shroud said. “I am Shadow Shroud of the Shadewalkers.”
Quantum gasped again. “Shadewalkers!? You….You’re real!?” she exclaimed.
Shroud was once again caught off guard. She removed her mask to reveal her surprised expression. “You……know of us?”
“Know of you!? You’re only one of the most ancient myths spoken of in Equestrian folklore. I’ve even seen mention of you in some history books, but……never did I expect you to actually exist, let alone actually be granted the opportunity to speak to one! Oh, what an honor this is! You simply must tell me the secrets behind the arts that make you so mysterious!” Quantum said.
Shadow Shroud gave her annoyed glare before putting her mask back on. “Not happening. Stick with talking to plants.” She said. Though a little disappointed, Quantum Tech followed her new friend’s lead. Sneaking through the moonlit Canterlot was a tid bit difficult since patrolling guards comprised most of tonight’s activity. Everypony probably had to work in the morning, and hit the hay. Nevertheless, the two fillies made it into the rocky slopes that ascended towards their hideout, and Quantum Tech’s new life.
Meanwhile….
Within the castle of Equestria’s capital high atop one of its towers stood a mare who was in small conflict. From her perch rising high above much of the city, she had observed the activities of a small group of foals on a crusade born of anguish. She hadn’t expected for said crusade to come here to Canterlot so soon, but it brought her a strange mix of happiness…..and regret. He navy-blue mane that resembled the night sky itself waved in the mellow breeze underneath the luminous moon that she had risen. Even within its glorious light, the dark of night still loomed.
“My dear foals…..It is not right of me to allow you to feel such horrible emotions towards this realm of Equestria, but……It would be far worse if I forced you back into the toxic lives that you have abandoned. Even one such as I cannot force change no matter how little, but only present it. I have seen into your dreams, your pasts, your hearts…..and I am truly saddened at what you have been forced to experience. May your broken spirits be healed on your journey, and know that I will watch over you even in the blackest of nights. I know that this is not what my sister would want, but the need for change that you represent is not something that can happen so easily even with our words alone; may she forgive me. Fire Fight……continue your mission. Never allow that fire burning so brightly in your young heart to be dwindled. Become the change that Equestria needs to see. Take the foals that you rescue, the friends you make along the way, and nurture them where everypony else has failed. Bring them into the light that they so desperately need, and shine that light all across this land. This journey you take will indeed be wrought with great peril, but I have utmost faith in you…..all of you. Accomplish the impossible, because it is possible for you.”
Earlier in Baltimare….
“OH MY GOODNESS!” Fluttershy exclaimed. She was expecting a horrific creature to be unveiled from beneath the lab cover, but what she saw could only be described as unnatural. Twilight and Spike were equally as shocked, and Film Noir still quivered from just looking at it.
The biologist joining them kept his cool as he looked at them. “Well? What do make of this?” he asked.
“I-I think I’m having a bad dream!” Spike commented.
“Wha……What are these things!?” Twilight exclaimed. She had never seen such a freak of nature in her life, nor had she ever read about anything like it. Whatever this thing was seemed completely foreign to anything she had studied on. It scared her.
“I’m not sure if you already knew, but Fillydelphia has been experiencing a wheat famine recently. We figured out that the soil was somehow losing its fertility, but never discerned how. These creatures had soil in their stomachs, so we theorize that they might be the cause.” The biologist explained.
“Really? Well…..I-I don’t know of any animals that eat soil. There are predators that eat little things like worms and bugs that are in soil, but they just spit the soil back out.” Fluttershy explained.
“Exactly what we thought. We also think that judging by its similarity to known animals that have nests, it might also have one.” The biologist said.
“I think so too. Lots of burrowers do. They were down in some abandoned subways, right? Maybe their nest is somewhere down there.” Fluttershy said.
“That’s only logical, but indeed. We’ve yet to start a search until we have guards to protect in case there are more of them and they’re hostile.” The biologist said.
“Might I take a closer look?” Twilight asked. She was granted her permission. Looking at the corpses more closely, Twilight could see what Film Noir was talking about. Burn marks with external trauma that was clearly reminiscent of a pony punching or kicking them just screamed ‘Fire Fight’ in her face, but an even bigger deal breaker for her was when she inspected another, and found a small metal pellet deeply embedded into its head as though it has forcefully pushed into it.
“Twilight, isn’t this a bullet? Like those little things that guns are supposed to fire?” Spike asked.
“Yes, Spike. It is! Maybe….Kickback was with them too!? Have we been right all along!?” Twilight said.
“We need to ask around town to see if anypony saw him!” Spike said.
“I’m afraid I didn’t….” Film Noir said. “Although….I do remember running into this pegasus colt just outside of a bakery. I was wondering why he had swords for a Cutie Mark.
Spike gasped. “That sounds like Air Slash!” He and Twilight explained to Film Noir about each of the runaway foals that they think that Fire Fight might have taken along with him, Air Slash being one of them.
Film Noir gasped. “That was him! That was the colt that I encountered! He was with Fire Fight!?”
“We think so. The possibility is high, but we think so.” Twilight said.
“Oh, dear. I hope that these monsters didn’t……” Fluttershy said. Fearing the worst, the all decided to venture into the ruinous abyss below to investigate.