Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 22: It's Not That Easy Bein' Green

Looking up at the older Griffon’s face, I saw something in her icy blue eyes. Was it wonder? Wonder that a small pony would dare speak to her in such a way. Was it Anger? Anger because no one ever dared to question her. Maybe it was respect. Respect that I wasn’t scared of her or her threats. Who knows what it really was, but something deep inside made her take a step back, like she was second guessing her decision to treat me the way she was.

After a minute pasted, Gigi, the leader of the Red Talons said, “What did you just say to me?”

“I said fuck you,” I took a step forward. I didn’t care if she was more twice my height and could probably cut me down before I knew what hit me. I wasn’t gonna let anyone disrespect someone I cared about. Aura was my friend, I didn’t care if this was her mother or not, she didn’t have the right to treat her the way she was. The same goes for me, she didn’t even know me, “I don’t care if you’re the leader of the Red Talons, or Aura’s mother. I’m not gonna stand back and let you insult us. You lost the right to say anything to her about who she loves when you kicked her out of her only home and made her live alone in The Wasteland.”

Gigi was trembling with fury, “How dare you tell me how to act in my own home you slime. You come here with my daughter and think you can just up and tell me how to run things in my family?”

“If Aura was your family you wouldn’t treat her like a piece of shit that needs to be scraped off the bottom of your paws. It’s been what, six or seven months since you’ve last saw her and the first thing you do is accuse her of sleeping around with a pony who just happens to be a mare she’s under contract with? And here I thought I had it bad when my own mother abandoned me in a stable. Good Goddesses, at least she was good to me,” I said raising me voice a little. I could see griffons around the hut staring at me in awe. It didn’t matter that I was pissed, my best friend was missing. I was sore, tired, and had my own shit to deal with. Now I was dealing with this bitch. I wasn’t gonna take it anymore.

Aura tried to step in, “Shadow please don’t, this isn’t your place to talk.”

I shot a glare at her, “I don’t see you standing up for yourself, she needs to learn not to insult somepony because she’s making assumptions. She has no idea what she’s talking about.”

“Oh I don’t, do I?” Gigi said taking a step toward me, “So I don’t know that my daughter has a soft spot for mares? I don’t know that she left everything behind in order to be with one of them who she claimed to love and I don’t know that she did this knowing what it would mean when she was found out? Do you think I’m an imbecile?”

“She’s an adult, I think she can make up her own mind on who she falls in love with. Who cares if it’s a pony or a griffon? You can’t help who you fall for. That doesn’t mean you kick her out of her home. What kind of mother are you?” I replied.

Gigi raised her own voice, “One that has to think about what’s best for four hundred griffons and the place we call home. We aren’t ponies, we don’t live by the same customs that ponykind does. You talk about love, you can’t count on love to keep you safe or to help your family and clan grow. If you haven’t noticed Courier, the world is a deadly place, and we have to make sure that we keep our family growing and healthy. If we don’t it could mean the end of everything. I won’t sit back and watch one of my own do that to the rest of us, even if it means sending her away to learn the hard lessons of life.”

“And what lessons are they? How to hate everything about yourself and feel so alone that the only thing you can do is try and get someone to accept you? What a load of fucking horse apples. You’ve gotta be the shittiest mother I’ve ever met, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve seen some shitty mothers, but I think you top them all.”

In an instant the blade of Gigi’s curved sword was an inch from my left eye. I didn’t even flinch, I just looked down the edge of the blade and up at the griffon, “Get out of my canyon before I mount your head on my wall.”

“No!” I yelled.

“What did you just say?”

“I said No, I’m not going anywhere. I was invited here by Apollo and I have something for him. I also came looking for help from your talon company, I’m not going anywhere until I finish what I came here to do, even if I have to fight you to do it,” I said, pulling out Dream Walker.

She looked ready to lunge forward, but before either of us could do or say anything else, a spear came up, knocking Dream Walker away and Gigi’s sword. A second later Apollo was standing there between us. He sighed, “Ladies there’s no need to fight.”

“Step aside, this isn’t your fight,” Gigi said still glaring at me.

“Maybe not, but I DID invite her here to meet with us. She’s Box Tape’s employee, and you know how much we owe him for his help over the years.” Apollo said calmly.

“She’s also the mare who killed Gus,” Gigi said.

“She did, but only to protect herself as I told you before. I’ve already forgiven her for that and she does feel remorse for his death. You know that we don’t hold it against anyone who kills one of our own if it was on a mission and in self-defense, that’s the way we’ve always done things.”

“Yeah Gigi, Shadow was only protecting herself from a false contract,” Aura said.

I still felt anger deep inside, but I did my best to push it back as I spoke, “I didn’t mean for your son to die, if I could I’d take it back, but I can’t.”

Gigi looked away and all the fight seemed to drain out of her, “My Husband has forgiven you for his death, it may piss me off to no end, but I can’t change what happened,” she sighed and pinched the tip of her beak much like Aura did when she was upset, “You have a point, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions just because you hold Aura’s contract, but you should still show me the proper respect, you’re in my home.”

Apollo spoke up, “She’s right Shadow, you should show my wife more respect, even if she was a little brash when she ran into you,” then he looked at Gigi, “And you should watch what you say to ponies about our Daughter, Aura is her own griffon and it isn’t your place to talk about her life like that.”

“I’m sorry Apollo but I can’t give her any respect when she treats my friend the way she is. She owes Aura an apology,” I said, standing my ground.

“No Shadow she doesn’t,” Aura said walking over to me and looking me in the eye, “She’s not wrong, though she could’ve held back on her accusations.”

“I don’t understand though, what does it matter if you fell in love with Trip Wire? Who cares if she’s a pony or not? Why would that get you kicked out of the Red Talon’s?”

“If you want to understand then go read the wall behind the Statue of Greta at the center of the Canyon,” Gigi said, sheathing her blade, “Aura, I’m not happy to see you back here since you haven’t been accepted back into the Red Talon’s yet, but I’m happy to see you’re still alive and healthy,” she said with a flap of her wings before flying off, leaving me even more confused.

Apollo sighed and stood in front of Aura, “I’m glad to see you home again Aura. Things seem to get livelier when you’re around.”

“Honestly if Shadow didn’t need the Red Talon’s help, I wouldn’t be here at all. She has something for you from The Queen.”

He looked back at me, “Do you really?”

“Yes I do,” I said pulling the package out from my saddle bags and giving it to him. As I did I noticed Wind Thrasher still standing in the entrance of the larger hut, “Wind Thrasher why are you here?”

The dark grey batpony walked out into the dim light of day and smiled, “It’s been a while Shadow Star. It seems you’ve gotten yourself into more trouble, is that normal for you?”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” I said with a laugh, “Why are you here? Last I heard, you were heading north taking down raider camps.”

She blushed a little. I noticed that she didn’t look as dark and creepy when she was in the light of day. Her grey coat was still dark, but it shined a little, same for the red Scales that ran down her chest and over her torso, her eyes weren’t glowing, and she seemed to have done something different with her mane. Before it had been tattered and wild, now it was trimmed and brushed. She almost looked like a normal pony, if you could get past the fangs, bat wings, and scales. Maybe it helped that she didn’t have those bone claws anymore. I also noticed her Cutie Mark, something I couldn’t see before in the dark Stable. Three maroon bats flying in a circle. It was fitting in a way.

“I was heading north,” she said in her soft hissing voice, “I ran into a few raider camps and I DID take them down, scattering the ponies that lived there who were causing problems for the locals. I was trying to get information on the location of the town my former Stable dwellers went to. I wanted to see about earning their forgiveness for what Dr. Cell made me do, but a couple days ago I started getting hunted by Griffons. I escaped two attacks, then after talking to a trader he told me that if I was being hunted by Griffons it was most likely that the Red Talons had a bounty on my head.”

“How’d you get a bounty on your head so quickly, you haven’t been out of the stable for more than a week?” I asked.

“Um…Shadow, who is that?” Wingnut asked.

Looking back I saw he was hiding behind me, his eyes round as saucers as he looked at Wind Thrasher. I smiled, “Wingnut this is a friend of mine Wind Thrasher. She’s the pony who helped save me in Stable 9 a few days before I met you.”

She smiled down at the colt, “It’s very nice to meet you Wingnut.”

He slowly walked out from behind me, “Um…nice to meet you too. What are you? (Thwack) Oww!”

“Wingnut! Think before you ask a question like that,” I yelled, but Wind Thrasher just laughed, it was a nice sound.

“It’s okay,” she said then looked back at the colt opening her leathery Wings, “I’m a batpony-dragon…thing… You see, when I was very young, even younger than you, I got hurt. A pony in my Stable used Bat and Dragon DNA to turn me into what you see now, saving my life, but also making me into something different.”

Wingnut seemed to get over his fear quickly as she opened her wings, “That’s cool, can I touch your wings?”

She blinked a little dumbfounded by his question, then smiled again, “Curious little colt, aren’t you? Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“Awesome!” Wingnut yelled running over and taking a wing into his hoof slowly running his other hoof along the soft leather.

She just giggled and looked back at me, “I’m not sure who put the bounty out on me, but I came here to find out. So far though, it doesn’t look like the Red Talons took a contract for a bounty on me.”

Aura looked over seeming to hear what we were talking about, “It’s possible that one of the smaller up and coming Talon companies took the contract. The Red Talons are the biggest Talon Company in The Wasteland, but we aren’t the only ones who work this area.”

“Yeah that’s what the boss griffon said too, so I guess I’m stuck until I find out who put this bounty on me and take care of it,” she said, then she started to look around, “Where’s you’re pegasus friend?”

Of course she’d ask that, I lowered my gaze and sighed, my voice seemingly lost, “He – He’s been kidnapped…by the Enclave, that’s another reason why we’re here, we wanted to see if the Red Talons could help us find him.”

Apollo looked up from the letter he was reading and asked, “Did I just hear you right? Did you say your friend was taken by the Enclave?”

“Yeah, he was taken last night after they attacked Frosty Summit,” Aura said.

“I remember seeing two pegasi flying by Crimson Canyon last night, they had a pony with them, but I didn’t think much of it. I figured it was just more Enclave bullshit,” Apollo said.

“Do you know which way they were heading?” I asked, a small glimmer of hope shining through.

“Toward Appleton, but I can’t say if that’s where they were heading. There are a few towns in that direction.”

“It’s better than not knowing anything,” I said.

Aura looked at Apollo, “Is there any way Shadow could contract the Talons to look for him and maybe help get him back? I’d do it myself, but it’s too much ground to cover for one griffon, and I don’t have the resources that I used to.”

Apollo looked lost in thought for a long moment, “Something like that would take at least four maybe five griffons depending on who we’re dealing with from the Enclave, I have a couple contacts that might know where they’re keeping him.”

“Would it help if I told you that the Seven Sins of Equinity took him?”

Apollo’s dark face paled, “Did you say the Sins?”

“Yeah, they’ve been hunting him for a long time. Sloth and Lust were the ones who took him,” I replied.

“That changes things, you’ll need at least three wings of griffons if you want to find your friend and even then, we have no idea if we’ll be able to get him back. A job like that would cost you at least eight thousand caps.”

I looked at my Pip-Buck checking to see how many Caps I had…unfortunately it was only around two thousand. I slumped, “There’s no way I could afford that.”

“Well now that you finished you’re job for The Queen, maybe with the extra bonus she was gonna throw in, you’d be able to afford it,” Wingnut said.

“No, with the delivery and the jobs plus the bonus I’d still be shy a couple thousand caps.”

Apollo took a minute to think, “I might be able to work with six thousand and an ‘I owe you’ for helping us with a job down the line. I’ll have to talk to Gigi and a couple others first though.”

“I still have to go back to Freedom and talk to the Queen to get my payment.”

“I could go, it wouldn’t take me long to get to New Pegasus from here and since she’s not on The Strip I could get the payment and be back here in a couple hours,” Aura said.

“Hmmm, yeah that could work. That’s if she’ll give you the caps even if I’m not with you.”

“She will, she knows I work for you so I don’t see why she wouldn’t pay me,” she said flapping her wings already hovering in the air.

“How about you take Wingnut with you, that way you have another pony who can vouch for you.”

“Awww but we just got here, I don’t wanna leave now,” the colt protested.

“You’ll be fine kid, I’ll just feel better if you’re with Aura to help keep her safe. She’ll need a brave stallion like you,” I said, stroking Wingnut’s ego a little for motivation.

Wingnut tried to hide a blush from the compliment. “Fine, as long as we’re back quickly.”

Aura landed again and picked Wingnut up, “Don’t worry kid, we’ll be back in a flash,” Aura said as she flew off.

Watching them leave I said to Apollo, “Do you think you can talk Gigi into helping?”

“It won’t be a problem, she’ll cool down soon. I’m sure she’ll want to come and talk to you later,” he said flying into the air then turning back, “While you wait, go ahead and check out the Canyon a little, you’re more than welcome here.”

“I will,” I said as he flew off.

Wind Thrasher tapped my shoulder and I looked back at her as she asked, “So what now?”

“I’m not sure, I guess I’ll check the place out. What did you have planned?”

She shrugged, “Not much really, I wasn’t planning on staying long once I found out what I needed to know about my bounty. If you want I could keep you company.”

I smiled a little then nodded, “That’d be great Wind Thrasher,” I started to make my way toward the statue of Greta, “So what’ve you been up to apart from taking down Raider Camps and looking for Trotston?”

“I’ve been taking my free time to learn about The Wasteland,” she reached into a satchel and pulled out a copy of The Wasteland Survival Guide. I noticed that it looked a little different from my own copy. I saw the title had an extra part added to it, New Pegasus Edition.

“Where did you get that?”

“A trader I ran into had a copy, he gave it to me,” she said tucking it back into her bag, “He said he’s friends with the author.”

I didn’t know there were different versions of the book. I noticed that my own seemed to concentrate on things around Manehatten, “I should get myself a copy, the one I have doesn’t tell me much about things around New Pegasus.”

“You could always borrow mine if you want, I’ve read it three times already,” Wind Thrasher said with a smile.

“You read it that many times?”

She shrugged, “I like to read, and I get a lot of down time. I tend to travel at night, it keeps other ponies from seeing me.”

“Why would you care if other ponies see you?” I said a moment before I figured it out, “Oh right, I guess a pony like you is a strange sight even in The Wasteland.”

“It is, but I’ve run into a couple ponies who don’t seem to mind too much. Really, I’m just a little shy, I had twenty years of only being around the Bloodwings and Dr. Cell. I didn’t get to talk to ponies until you showed up.”

As we reached the statue I asked, “So who did your mane for you? It looks a lot nicer than the last time I saw you.”

She blushed a little, “I saw a pony in a small town near here that was cutting pony’s manes so I flew down and asked him. At first, he was a little scared of me, but after I talked to him more he did it for a few caps.”

“I like it,” I said stopping in front of the Statue. I looked up at the statue of Greta. She looked older for some reason, but still with powerful presence, “I wonder what made her start the Red Talons? When I saw her in a memory of Night Stalker she was against this whole contract thing. I wonder what made her change her mind.”

Wind Thrasher looked up at the Statue too, “You said she was in a memory of Night Stalker?”

“Yeah, she was his best friend ever since they were kids, or at least that’s how it sounded.”

“My father used to talk about Night Stalker, we had a little history in our Stable about him. My father loved the stories that had him in them, but they never talked about a griffon.”

“I was surprised that you had memory orbs of his in there.”

“Mom said they were in her safe when she took over, she never knew where they came from.”

I sighed, “I hate not knowing things, it just seems like that blasted pegasus is always a mystery.”

She smiled, “That bugged my father too, he wanted to find out more about Night Stalker, but with us being stuck in the stable he had no way of finding out more.”

“I know the feeling, I’ve found a few things out about him, but not enough. It bugs me because something deep down tells me I need to know more about him, though I can’t say why. It’s not like a pony who lived over two hundred years ago would matter now days,” I said walking around the statue to look at the rock wall behind it.

Carved into it, under the words about The Red Talons were ten rules. I sat down and started to read them.

Rule One
A griffon’s Personal Contract is their own and cannot be changed by any griffon or pony, this is a griffon’s life and code.

Rule Two
A Red Talon will always put their family and clan before anything, unless it goes against their contract or the rules governing The Red Talons.

Rule Three
A Red Talon will never take a job for a pony who lies about their intent of a Contract. If said pony does bare false witness against a Red Talon, the Contract is negated and payment will not be refunded.

Rule Four
Crimson Canyon is the home of the Red Talons and will remain its home. No Leader of the Red Talons will ever take their griffons away from this home unless it is destroyed.

Rule Five
The Red Talons will never take a contract for The Grand Pegasus Enclave or any pony associated with them. Remember the fall of Griffonstone.

Rule Six
Payment must always be paid up-front before a griffon of the Red Talons will contract with anyone.

Rule Seven
Relationships between a griffon and a pony are strictly prohibited. It is unnatural for a Griffon to be with a pony apart from friendship or for work, anything more will not be tolerated.

Rule Eight
No Red Talon will ever kill another unless it is in single combat and approved by the Leader of the Red Talons. Any member of the Red Talons that breaks this rule will be executed.

Rule Nine
Stables that are still active are off limits, The Red Talons will never take a contract that requires them to go into an active Stable. Contracts with an Active Stable are acceptable, as long as a griffon doesn’t go into the stable itself.

Rule Ten
Any Griffon who breaks any of the founding rules apart from Rule Eight, will be exiled from the Red Talons, the only exception to this rule is if they are working a job for a contractor and supervised by another Red Talon unless the contractor is present, in which case the contractor is responsible for said exile and only with permission from a Council Leader.

After I finished reading them all, my eyes came back to Rule Seven, the rule that Aura had broken. Who would make rules like that? I guess most of them made sense but why would Greta put a rule like that up. Did she know a griffon who had feelings for a pony…or was it her?

“I think I understand why Aura had to leave. It’s sad because of how she felt for one pony destroyed her whole life,” I said still looking up at the rules.

“It’s the rules we have to live by for the Red Talons to work,” A voice said from behind us.

Turning I saw Gigi standing there looking up at the rules as well, “What do you want Gigi?” I asked.

She looked down at me then over at Wind Thrasher, “Would you mind giving us a moment Wind Thrasher? I’d like to talk to the Courier.”

Wind Thrasher gave me a smile, “Sure thing. Shadow, I’ll be around. Come find me when you’re done.”

I sighed again then nodded, “Okay, just don’t go flying off before saying goodbye.”

“I won’t,” she said flying away and leaving me with Ms. Grumpy Beak.

“So, are you coming over to tell me to leave again, or just to insult your daughter more?”

“It was wrong of me to accuse you like I did. Apollo talked to me and explained that you saved Aura’s life a few weeks back. I didn’t know that.”

“I did, after she got into a fight with Stardust when she was hunting me, she took a nasty blow to the chest. I gave her a healing potion so she wouldn’t die. Later she found me in Stable 9 and I saved her from Bloodwings, she told me then that she owed me a life-debt,” I said glancing over at Gigi.

She was looking up at the Statue of Greta, a far off look in her eyes, “Did she ever pay back that Debt?”

“A couple of times, it was her medical training that saved me from Cazador poisoning, and she’s had my back in a few fights.”

A small smile came to her beak, she finally looked at me, “I take it you’ve gotten to know her quite well over the past couple of weeks.”

“I thought I did, I just never put together the relationship between her and Trip Wire. So, I guess I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did, but everyone is entitled to their secrets.”

“Follow me Courier,” she said as she turned and started to make her way toward the fighting arena.

“Why?”

She looked over her shoulder at me, “I won’t bite, you have my word. I just want to show you something.”

“Fine, not like I have much choice in the matter,” I said following her.

We past a few griffons as we walked, a couple of them saying hello to Gigi while we walked, some giving respective bows, others saluting her. As we made our way past the Arena and into the rows of huts Gigi cleared her throat and asked, “What has Aura told you about her exile?”

“Not much really, she told me she did something that went against the ways of the griffons and was exiled for it, later I learned that she broke a rule. She told me that the only way she could get back in was to prove she was worthy of being a Red Talon again.”

“For the most part that’s true, though the getting back in part was her father not me. Aura and Apollo have always been very close, ever since she was born she’s always been drawn to him. When I sent her away he was the one who told her that she could get back in if she proved she’d changed her ways and proved she was of value to the Talons,” we got to the other side of the huts and she stopped next to one of the tall cliffs. She looked back at me again, “I’ll have to carry you up to the next level to show you what I want to.”

“That’s fine with me, just don’t drop me.”

She laughed, “If I wanted to kill you or hurt you Courier I wouldn’t need to walk you all the way out here just to drop you from a cliff,” she picked me up and jumped into the air, it only took a couple seconds and then we were on the ground again, only now on one of the cliffs that overlooked Crimson Canyon, “It’s not much farther.”

I followed her and continued our conversation, “I know you have you’re rules and all, but I still don’t understand why you kicked her out. She’s you’re daughter.”

She stopped in front of a small cave, “I did what I had to do Courier, she IS my daughter, but I’m also the leader of the Red Talons. I can’t ignore one of our founding rules, even for my family. As much as it hurt me to do it, I had to make her leave, it was in her best interest.”

“By making her leave her family and wander alone out in The Wasteland?”

She took a deep breath like she was trying to keep herself from yelling at me, then she said slowly, “Head inside, you’ll understand once you do.”

Not wanting to deal with her anymore, I walked past and into the cave. It wasn’t much to look at, it was set up like you’d expect a home to be. There was a desk in one corner, a bed in the other, a rack for melee weapons to be stored and a hooflocker, “What's the deal with this place?” I asked.

She walked in behind me and over to a lantern, lighting it. The cave filled with light and in the far corner next to the small desk I saw a few dozen photos hung up on the wall. Walking closer I saw they were all of Aura. Some were Aura as a child playing with one of her sisters, another when she was older learning to fight with a younger looking Gina, and three were with Aura and Trip Wire.

I brought a hoof up and touched one of the photos. The first one was simple, Aura looked like she was showing Trip Wire how to fight. They both had smiles on their faces. The Second one showed Aura flying with Trip Wire on her back, a look of wonder and glee on the young pony’s face. The last one though, the one that I had my hoof on, it showed the depths of the feelings they had for each other. Aura was resting her forehead against Trip Wires, both of their eyes were closed and Trip Wire’s muzzle was just touching the tip of Aura’s beak. It was a simple picture but you could see so much in it, an emotion that you don’t see much in The Wasteland. It was love.

Looking back toward Gigi I asked, “Who took all these pictures, I didn’t even know you could do that anymore.”

Gigi was looking at the photos as well, her eyes were glassy as if she was holding back tears. When I spoke, she tore herself away from the pictures and said, “I did, you see I wasn’t blind to what was going on with Aura. She’s always been different, she never wanted to do things like the other griffons when she was growing up. When I first caught her with Syn’s friend I almost lost it, but later when I talked to her about it, she didn’t shy away or get angry, she just told me that I couldn’t change what she liked and who she was. After that I realized that she was right, I couldn’t change who she was no matter how much I wanted to. So, I watched her and hoped that she wouldn’t do something stupid and mess things up for herself. I should’ve known better.”

“From what she’s told me you two didn’t get along very well.”

“We didn’t, I was always the one with the rules and restrictions. She was the one pushing the limit on what she could and couldn’t get away with. She’s a lot like me in that way. When I was young, I was a little shit too. She always thought I didn’t like her, and in a way, I didn’t, but I always loved her and I still do.”

I looked around the small cave more then asked, “Why did you bring me here?”

“Because I want you to see that I’m not the cold-hearted bitch that I’m sure Aura and others have made me out to be. This cave is my, shall I say, meditation chamber. When my days get too long or stressful, I come here and relax, maybe read a book or just sit back and look at the pictures of my children. In this cave I can be…a mother, and not the leader of The Red Talons,” she said with a sigh, coming to stand next to me looking at the picture of Aura and Trip Wire.

“Why did you take those pictures?” I asked indicating the last three with Aura and Trip Wire, “If you knew what she was doing and it’s wrong then why?”

“Because I knew I couldn’t change it, and I liked Trip Wire a lot, she was always a kind pony and a good fighter. She excelled in making or modifying weaponry, she also had a good eye for business. She set up trade routes all over the place and was starting to get some clients out in Manehatten and Hoofington. I had a great deal of respect for her and her talents. When I figured out that she had feelings for Aura, I was upset at first, but when I saw how happy she made Aura I decided that as long as nopony found out, I’d be okay with it.”

I looked back over at her confused, “Then why kick her out?”

She closed her eyes and her body seemed to slump, “Aura was working a job with Trip Wire, they were heading to an abandoned Stable up north. Aura knew she’d need help with the contract so she recruited two other griffons to join them. By this time Trip Wire and Aura had been seeing each other for over a year. They’d gotten used to doing certain things when they were on jobs together. While they were camped not far from the Stable as I understand it, one of the griffons who went with them caught them together. There was a fight and both flew back home. Aura and Trip Wire abandoned the job and followed them back.”

“Let me guess, by the time they arrived it was too late to do anything about it.”

She smiled, “Yeah, by that time my talons were tied. I had to do something about it, and with all the eyes of our kind on me I made my ruling. I cast her out of the Red Talons. She was so angry with me that day, she told me I was an old-fashioned cunt if memory serves. They left…I figured that at least Aura would have Trip Wire, and she could still be happy. Then three days later, I got the news from one of my contacts that Trip Wire was killed by raiders, and Aura fled.”

“So, she lost everything within a few days, I guess I could see why she’s always so defensive.”

“Well she’s always been like that, but now she has an anger deep inside her. It’s a good thing when she has to fight, but she lets it creep out of her when it comes to her friendships too. It takes her a long time to trust anyone, she’s always afraid that if she gets too close to someone, then she’ll lose them.”

“How do you know so much about her after her banishment?”

She laughed again, “She’s my daughter, I made sure to keep an eye on her when I could. I worried about her or what she’d become with no one to call a friend.”

“Then why did you freak out when she came back here with me?” I asked finally turning away from the pictures.

She struggled, “You caught me at a bad time honestly. Your friend Wind Thrasher came to me about a bounty that we didn’t have on her. We’ve been having problems with contracts going to one of the newer griffon groups that moved into the area recently. We don’t like talon companies moving in on our territory. So, with the thought of having to deal with that bullshit and seeing my daughter back with another mare, it was too much and I blew up. I also had to preserve appearances, my position as the leader is always in danger. The Bloodtalon’s have held that title ever since the beginning, and we won’t give it up easily.”

“Wait a second, I thought that Greta started the Red Talons,” I said.

She looked at me like I was cracked or something, “She did, she’s our great, great… something… Grandmother.”

Now there was a shock, “So you’re descendants of a member of the Children of the Night?

Gigi froze when I asked this, her eyes fell on me again, “How do you know who the Children are? I thought the knowledge of their existence was lost.”

“I have a few memory orbs of Night Stalker, one of them showed Greta in it.”

Anger flashed over her face, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll never say that name around here ever again.”

I took a step back, “Why? He was just a pony from over two hundred years ago.”

“He was also the pony who called for the destruction of our homelands. He betrayed the place he grew up in, all for power. That Pony was a snake and his name is taboo around here.”

“Okay, sorry. I didn’t know.”

She calmed a little, “No matter, just please don’t say his name. The stories around here, about him, make him out to be even more evil than the Zebras.”

Hoping to change the subject I quickly asked, “So this last picture of Aura and Trip Wire, where was that taken?”

She looked back at the pictures, her mind seeming to pull away from the anger a little, “That was taken in Manehatten not far from Tenpony tower. I think Aura and Trip Wire wanted to move there at one point, but the tower doesn’t allow griffons.”

I took one more long look at the pictures then turned to leave the cave, “I’m glad you told me all this, but from what I can see, it’s all in the past. What does any of this have to do with me?”

She followed me back out of the small cave, “I just wanted you to understand. I would’ve left it up to Aura to explain everything, but in her version, she’d paint me as the bad guy. I just think you should hear both sides of a story.”

“Why don’t you just tell Aura the truth about how you felt and fix things with her?” I asked.

“Because I’d rather her keep seeing me as the bad guy and keep her away from The Red Talons,” She replied.

“Wait, you don’t want her to be a Talon?”

“Not anymore, I don’t. I want her to live her own life and be happy. If she comes back here, she’ll be tied down by the same rules as before. She’ll act happy for a while, but it’ll be a mask, hiding who she truly is. I don’t want that for her, I want her to be truly happy, be that as a talon, a freelancer, or with someone special to her. To be honest, I’m glad she found you Courier.”

I chuckled, “You can call me Shadow if you want, honestly I hate that name DJ Pon3 gave me, and why are you happy she found me?”

She took hold of me and lifted us into the air before she answered, “Because, before she met you, she was lost and now she’s not.”

She flew us back to the large Hut landing in front of the flap that led in. When we were on the ground again I turned toward her and said, “You don’t have to worry about Aura, she’s starting to come out of her shell, and so am I thanks to her and my friends.”

“Speaking of friends, Apollo told me about you’re missing pegasus and who took him. I’ll agree to set up a contract with a few of our griffons for you if you do two things for me,” she said taking me by surprise.

“What’s that?”

“First the payment, which I was told Aura is off to collect from The Queen, second I want you to promise me that you won’t tell Aura what we talked about. I don’t want her to know the truth about me. As I said before, my role in her life is as the bad guy, and I want to keep that up so she’ll stay far away from here.”

“I hate lying to her though,” I said.

“I do too, but sometimes we have to lie to our children. If you have children of your own one day you’ll understand.”

“Fine, you have my word that I won’t tell her about this, unless she comes out and asks me.”

She smiled again, “I can accept that, thank you Shadow.”

“You’re welcome Gigi.”

“Well I’m sure that they won’t be gone much longer, if you want you can stay here for the night, we have a few extra caves that are nice to sleep in.”

“What about Stardust?”

“I’ll be talking with a few of the other griffons tonight and send out word to our contacts about him as well. We’ll find him don’t worry.”

“I guess that’s the best I can hope for,” I said.

“Don’t worry Shadow, The Red Talons are the best Talon Company in Equestria, we’ll be able to find him. For the time being I should go see what I can find out about this bounty on Wind Thrasher, if you see her let her know this one will be on the house,” Gigi said heading back into the large hut.

I stopped her, “If I can ask, why do this for free for her?”

When she looked back at me, I once again saw anger written on her face, “Because, I don’t like other talon groups working bounties in my territory. I want to find out who’s doing this and who put out the bounty. Once I do I’ll make them regret ever doing business without talking to The Red Talons first,” with a small huff she walked into the hut.

Shrugging I turned and started heading back down the path that lead back toward the center of Crimson Canyon. Since I couldn’t do much without the Talons help I figured I’d head off to find either Wind Thrasher or Silver. Honestly, I could use a little of Silver’s version of de-stressing right now. Since Wind Thrasher wasn’t going to be going anywhere soon I figured I’d go look for my Mare friend instead.

As I moved closer to the huts I noticed a wagon had come into Crimson Canyon from the other entrance, it was pulled by a brahmin, and two ponies were on guard with a trader pony who was setting up a small table with goods on it. I made my way over and the mare who was setting up looked up at me and smiled, “Hello miss, can I interest you in anything?”

“Maybe. Do you happen to have any .50 Cal ammo?”

She turned and started digging through one of the large bags on the brahmin’s back then pulled out a couple of ammo boxes, “Only have a couple boxes of it I’m afraid, it’s not very often you find this caliber in The Wasteland.”

“Tell me about it, I’ve had a hard time finding any,” I said smiling at her, “How much?”

“For both boxes it’ll be four hundred caps.”

My jaw dropped open, “For two boxes of ammo? That’s crazy!”

“It’s a rare caliber to find out here, supply and demand, that’s how it works,” she said, grinning at me.

“Fuck, I need all the caps I can to pay the Talons. Is there any way you can drop the price even a little?”

“Sorry hun, it’s either pay the four hundred or show me something worth trading.”

This is why I had Stardust do the Trading, he was a lot better at bartering than I was. I looked down at my Pip-Buck and started looking through the crap I’d picked up while I was on the road. When I did I noticed that each item I had, had a number next to it labeled ‘Value’ I guess my Pip-Buck was able to figure the proper value of every item I had in my saddle bags. I smiled as I saw a few things I knew I didn’t need that I could use to possibly trade.

First I pulled out the magical energy pistol Wingnut had gotten from one of The Enclave Soldiers, “This magical energy pistol is worth at least eight hundred even in the condition it’s in. How about this for the ammo and four hundred caps back to me?”

She took it and looked it over, “It’s a little worn, but still in good firing condition, needs a little work, but it’s nothing I can’t handle…I’ll give you the ammo and two hundred caps for it.”

Okay this wasn’t as hard as I thought, I wonder what else I could get. Pulling out the rifle Cloak had dropped I put it on the table. The mare’s eyes lit up at once, “Is that a Flash Industries series two over charged Plasma Rifle with a long-range barrel? It looks like it was even modified to work better for a unicorn, with a…wait a moment, yes it has a gem to take all the recoil away so even if an earth pony, Pegasus, or a Unicorn with weak magic uses it, they won’t drop the weapon. And it has a stabilizer as well. Where did you get your hooves on this?”

That took me by surprise, “Got it off an Enclave Officer, she dropped it when we were in the middle of a fight.”

“I’ll give you eight thousand caps for it!” she said, her eyes going wide.

“You’ll give me HOW MUCH!”

“Eight thousand, and I’ll even throw in the .50 Cal too.”

I took a moment and looked at my Pip-Buck, it’s value was way more than she was telling me…was it worth selling or… “How good of a rifle is this?”

“I’ve only ever seen three of them in my life and none with as many modifications as that one has. It was a weapon they were just starting to develop toward the end of the war. Sure Flash Industries made a lot of magical energy weapons, and a few plasma ones as well, but nothing came close to this beauty,” she sounded like I was holding gold encrusted with diamonds.

“Well it’s not for sale, I mean I could use the caps but it’s worth more than that and I really do need a better weapon than Dream Walker,” I stopped and thought about it, what if the ammo for this was just as rare as Dream Walker’s, “Uh, what kind of ammo does it use?”

“Oh it’s a rare one, even more than your other gun, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to try finding it. If eight thousand isn’t enough I’ll throw in the caps, ammo, and three guns from my inventory.”

Okay this was getting very tempting, but what did Auntie always tell me. If somepony wants something badly enough, then there’s a reason for it. If you have it, don’t give it up without either knowing why or making them pay dearly for it. I was about to tell her no again, to see if she’d bring up what she was willing to part with, when Silver’s voice said from behind me, “That weapon was modified to work with Standard Gem cartridges, it’s not expensive and you can find them at most vendors in The Wasteland.”

The Trader pony looked ready to kill Silver, I just smiled and kissed her, “You’re a lifesaver.”

“I don’t like ponies who try and cheat others out of goods just because they want something,” Silver said glaring at the mare, “Now, why don’t you show Shadow all the ammo you have for her weapons, both of them, and give her a better deal on the energy pistol. She’s not selling this one.”

Before I knew it Silver had pulled out some junk from my bags and the combat armor she’d given me outside of New Pegasus. When she finished, she’d purchased a new combat Shotgun, ammo for it, Dream Walker, and the Plasma rifle, even some ammo for Stardust’s rifle. She also found an assault rifle with a shit ton of ammo to go along with it. In the end the mare ended up still paying me eight hundred caps. We ended up walking away with more caps, ammo, and weapons only leaving behind one pissed off looking mare.

“Damn how did you do all that?” I asked.

She laughed, “I’m in the business of dealing with ponies like her, she had no idea what she’d gotten herself into, and you do tend to carry around a lot of shit you really don’t need.”

“Most of it was crap Stardust would collect when we were scavenging, he made me carry it since my Pip-Buck keeps it all organized,” I said holding the Plasma Rifle in my magical grip looking it over, “I wonder how you know how many shots this thing has left.”

“That’s not hard, you see the three lights on the back of the rifle,” She said pointing at it, I nodded, “When the green light is on you’re 75% or more, Yellow is 25% to 75% and red means you’re almost out. Just watch that and you’ll do fine. Though firing one of them is tricky, they don’t work the same as your normal gun. If I were you I’d find a pony to teach you how to use it.”

“I’ll see if Wingnut or Aura knows anything about them when they get back. If not, I’ll just have to make a trip to the Steel Rangers and talk to Sapphire, she knows a lot about this kind of weaponry.”

“That’s if they don’t try and take it from you,” Silver said rolling her eyes in disgust.

“Why would they do that? I’m friends with the Elder and Sapphire, they wouldn’t take my weapons from me just because they wanted it.”

She looked at me confused, “I find that hard to believe, the Steel Rangers take everything that’s old war tech, you can’t trust them.”

I stopped and looked at her just as confused, “What do you mean you can’t trust them, did you forget that Sapphire was the pony who helped save you from the Raiders back in Cartwheel.”

Her face went blank, “Did she? Oh yeah, I must’ve forgotten about that. Still I don’t think you can trust them Shadow, for all you know they’re just using you for something bigger.”

“I don’t think they’d do that Silver. They’ve been good to me, they even saved my life after what happened at Stable 9.”

She shook her head then walked back over to me, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. I just don’t personally like them is all, but if you trust them then I’ll take your word on it.”

“Thanks I guess, I just don’t understand why you got so hostile toward them.”

She sighed, “It’s a long story, let’s just change the subject. Did you get what you needed from the leaders of the Talons?”

I didn’t want to talk about it anymore than she did, so I figured I’d let it go, “In a way I did, they agreed to find Stardust for me and help get him back once Aura gets back with the payment from the Queen.”

“I take it we’re going to just wait around here for her to return?”

“Yeah, Gigi said we could use one of the caves around here to stay in for a while.”

“That’s not a bad idea, I could use a little rest, and I’m sure you could too.”

“I don’t see why not, I could use the time to watch one of mom’s memories too,” I said looking around, “The problem is I don’t know where the caves we could use are.”

“We could always just ask that Griffon Vi, I’m sure she’d know where we could stay.”

“True, the question is, where is she?”

“Over there,” Silver said pointing toward the Arena.

Looking over to where she was pointing, I saw the griffon talking to another. She looked almost just like Aura, same color and everything, only a little older and with more red in her head feathers. I’d seen her before, she was the other griffon that was with Apollo when they attacked me. Walking over I smiled, “Hey there Vi and…Syn was it?”

They broke away from their conversation, Vi looked at me like I was interrupting something important, but the other griffon smiled at me, “Long time no see…Shadow right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you again on better terms than when we last met.”

Both griffons looked sad for a moment, and Vi Answered, “We don’t like to think about that day, Syn told me what happened with our brother. Though we don’t hold it against you for his death, it’s still hard for us.”

“Yeah I still feel bad about that. I know it doesn’t help, but I wasn’t in my right mind when I killed him.”

“We know, anyway, what do you need? Syn and I are in the middle of something and we don’t have a lot of time to talk,” Vi said.

“Your mother said there were some empty caves around that we could use to rest up while we wait for Aura to get back.”

“Is that all?” she asked, “Well that’s easy, the caves are the ones just over the Den, pick any one you want. They’re reserved for ponies or griffons who come to visit or do business,” she pointed up at a few caves dotting the cliffs over The Den.

“Thanks, I’ll let you two get back to what you were talking about.”

“It’s fine,” Vi said turning back toward her sister.

Syn on the other hoof walked over to me and asked, “If you have time later would you mind if I stopped by and talked with you about my little Sister?”

“I don’t see a problem with it, though I’m not sure when she’ll be back so if you want to talk about her when she’s not around you’ll have to do it soon.”

“Oh that’s okay, she can be there, I don’t mind. I’d like to see her again. I wish she would’ve said hi to me before she left,” Syn said with a big smile on her face, “I’ll stop by later.”

“Alright,” I said leaving the two griffons behind and heading toward a path that seemed to lead up to the cliff.

“Griffons are so strange,” Silver said as we walked.

“Why do you say that?”

“They just are.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

“True…well I just don’t understand their whole ‘living by the contract’ thing and being ‘okay’ with you killing their brother. I mean if you did that to my family I don’t think I could just forgive you so easily.”

I just shrugged, “They aren’t ponies, they see the world differently than we do.”

She didn’t say anything after that, she just shook her head and walked faster. A moment later she walked into one of the caves. After looking around a little she said, “This one should do nicely, it even has a back area with a bed that we could use.”

I smiled wickedly, “I do like that sound of that,” walking in behind her I ran a hoof down her rear, “How about we give the bed a try.”

She looked back at me, her eyes wide, “What are you doing?”

“Wait huh?” I asked taken aback by her lack of reaction to my touch, normally she would’ve already jumped me and tossed me onto the bed.

“Shadow this isn’t the time for that kind of thing. I thought you said you had a memory orb to watch,” she said pulling away and moving to set her saddle bags down by the bed.

“I…do, but when have you ever cared about that? Normally you’d jump at the chance to do something naughty with me.”

“I’m not a whore Shadow, yes I may like to be spontaneous now and then, but we can’t always put stuff aside to play around. How about you pull out that orb.”

Confused I pulled out the box mom left for me with the memory orbs in them. I set the box down on the bed and lifted the first one out of the velvet lining. It was giving off the same silver glow I was getting used to with a normal memory orb. Mom said to watch it first, it was supposed to answer some of my questions.

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to watch this yet, I have too much on my mind to deal with mom’s bullshit,” I said setting the orb down on the bed, “Can’t we just have a little fun before I do? You know, help me calm down a little and clear my head.”

“Just watch the damn orb Shadow!” She practically yelled at me.

Something sharp pushed at the back of my mind, and for a split-second Morning Star was able to push past the protection ring I had on and say something quickly, “She’s an imposter, get out of here now before…” she faded and was pushed back and out of my head again, leaving me wobbling a little on my hooves.

What the fuck was that, how did she get past the Talisman’s warding? Not caring about that or what she had to say, I looked back at Silver, “What the fuck is your problem? You’ve been acting strange ever since the fight ended at Frosty Summit.”

“I told you already Shadow, I’m tired and cranky. I don’t want to fool around with you right now. Why is that so hard for you to understand, do you think I have to just lay down and let you do what you want with my body whenever you ask?” she asked, her eyes going cold.

“I never said that, it’s just not like you to act like this is all. I don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up over it. It’s not like I care if we do anything, it’s the fact that you’re getting pissed off at me for asking.”

“Don’t be such a child, all we have is a fun fling, it’s not like I love you or anything. You’re just a fun mare for me to enjoy while I’m bored, that’s all you are to me. I thought you would’ve realized that by now. Now stop being a stupid cunt and watch the orb, I need to cool down and I don’t feel like arguing with a foal like you right now!”

Something inside me broke right then, as those words passed her lips. Hot tears started to fall down my face as I spoke slowly, “You…don’t mean that. You can’t, you told me you loved me, that love was the only thing that brought me back from the edge. How could you say that to me now?”

She walked over to me, her hoof came up and she hit me as hard as she could. The blow threw me back onto the bed, she jumped onto it and stood over me glaring down, hatred written on her face, “I’m sick of this game, now go to sleep and watch your memory orb, I have things to take care of before the day is over.”

“Get off me,” I said quietly.

She ignored me and moved to pick up the memory orb, holding it in her muzzle, she looked back at me and said around the orb, “What did you say?”

I screamed it at her again “GET OFF ME!” using my magic I picked up my saddle bags to throw at her. But she only smiled and pressed the Orb to my glowing horn. There was a spark…‘NO’…The world melted away.

How could she do this to me, how could I not see who Silver really was the whole time? Was I just stupid, or did I really crave love so much that I didn’t notice? No, I remember Silver from back before the Stable, she promised to be my friend forever, and back when Morning Star had taken over, she told me she loved me and I could feel it when she kissed me. What happened to her, did Lust threaten her back in our room? That had to be it, why else would she be acting like this? Not like it mattered right now, I was stuck in a memory orb, one I had to pay attention to. I’ll deal with Silver when this is over.

Well I didn’t have to guess who my host was in this one. Mom was walking down a road in the dark, a road I knew well since I’d been on it only a few weeks ago. It was the same road that lead from Green Mist Valley to Cartwheel. This must’ve been right after she escaped the Stable. As she walked she was humming a little tune to herself as if she didn’t have a care in the world. In the distance I could see the mountains and cliffs that bordered Cartwheel. It looked a lot different without the Raider Camp. There were even a couple of caravans heading toward her, heading toward New Pegasus.

As my host past one of the caravan guards she gave them a smile and waved, they didn’t wave back, but one did nod his head toward her. When she drew closer to the break in the cliffs she left the path, I saw a green bar on her E.F.S. (I guess the normal Pip-Bucks had a different color E.F.S.), she headed toward it. There was an overhang poking out from the cliff side and a pony in Power Armor was waiting there.

She walked over to him, “I was wondering if you’d be waiting for me here, Paladin Crackerjack.”

His head turned toward her and he spoke in a voice that still gave me nightmares, it sounded like The Raider Boss, “Senior Scribe Grimoire, I see you were able to escape the Stable safely,” he looked around more, “Where is your daughter? Also, where is Paladin Vervain? I was told they would both be returning with you.”

I felt my host’s face grow sad as she said, “Vervain can’t come, she didn’t make it, we were ambushed when we were trying to leave. She gave her life so I could get away. As for my daughter, I had to leave her behind, she wasn’t well enough to make the trip.”

His voice grew angry, “You mean to tell me that a pony like Vervain was taken down by Stable Ponies?”

“She didn’t have her power armor, and they put up a good fight. I’ll be sure to make a report for my Elder when I return to Hidden Sands.”

“Elder Wolfsbane won’t be happy when he hears that, neither will the Sentinel,” he sounded pissed, “Did you at least get the information we were looking for about the Stable?”

“Anything I find out will be in my report to the new Elder, Appleslice. She told me that you aren’t part of the New Pegasus Steel Rangers anymore, I was told you moved east and joined up with Elder Cottage Cheese in Manehattan,” Mom said.

“I did, but we are all still Steel Rangers Grim, you know that. Now tell me what I want to know.”

“Not until I’m cleared to by the Elder.”

“Grim, at least tell me you found out more about the project!” This time instead of sounding angry, it sounded like he was pleading.

“Crackerjack, it was a dead end, not worth our time. Even if it was, I was only looking for it to help my daughter, I can’t do that anymore.”

“We had a deal Grim, I’d help you get in with the Steel Rangers even though I know where you came from, and you’d help me take over the New Pegasus branch with the help of that fucking project. You told me that it would be enough power that we could even take over all the branches of the Steel Rangers, even start a new kingdom,” He said raising his voice.

“And I was wrong, it’s not like it matters now, my daughter isn’t long for this world and that was my only motivation. I’m sorry Crackerjack, but the deal’s off,” Mom said turning to head back toward the road.

He moved and got in her way, his large gun pointing right at her head, “You’re not going anywhere, I know you’re lying to me. Give me the Mark II and all the information you have on Stable 28. That means its location, layout, and what to expect inside.”

Mom smiled lifting her foreleg to show him her normal Pip-Buck 3000, “Sorry but I don’t have the Mark II anymore.”

“WHERE THE FUCK IS IT!” He screamed.

“Lost it in a card game,” Mom said smiling at him, her horn starting to glow.

His gun lowered and holstered itself on the side of his power armor, “You left it in the Stable, didn’t you?”

“I never said that. All I can tell you is that I don’t have it anymore and nopony will ever find it…not for a long time,” she said her horn still glowing, I could feel a spell at the ready on her horn. I wonder what she was planning on doing to a pony in power armor.

“You’re still a bad liar Grimoire, I know you better than you think. You plan on getting it back one day, don’t you? You just don’t want Wolfsbane or Appleslice to get their hooves on it.”

“Or you Crackerjack. You know I’ve had a lot of time over the past two years to think about the arrangement we had. It’s true you did help me get into The Steel Rangers, but I was the one who proved myself to the former Elder. I don’t need you anymore Crackerjack, if you want to be Elder so bad then you should try and earn it yourself, instead of just taking over,” Mom said, her eyes narrowing.

“Power is everything, you should know that Grim. You should also know that nopony double crosses me. You always think you’re ten steps ahead of everypony, well it’s time for a reality check. You’re not.”

Mom backed up a little, “What do you mean Crackerjack?”

He chuckled a little and responded, “You see I had a feeling you’d pull something like this, so I got insurance.”

Anger became apparent in mom’s voice as she responded, “What did you do!?”

Seeming to ignore her, he started to walk around her slowly, “Did you know that there are ponies looking for you? One in particular was very interested to find you and your daughter. He found me a few months back, when I told him I knew where you were he was quite adamant on knowing the information. I wonder… how much do you want to hide from your old life?”

Mom drew her laser pistol, “You didn’t.”

“Oh but I did, he’s on his way here right now, I’m surprised he hasn’t arrived already. He is running a little late, though if you tell me what I want to know I can still help you hide from him,” Crackerjack said, still chuckling lightly.

“You’re bluffing, there’s no way he’d work with a Steel Ranger!”

“He would if it meant finding you. Now are you going to tell me what I want to know or do you want to face the pony you left behind back at home?”

Mom lowered her pistol, then slowly holstered it, “Fine you win,” She rummaged in her saddle bags and pulled out a Memory Orb, she was careful I noticed, not to concentrate too much on the orb so she wouldn’t be drawn into it, “This will show you what to expect inside the stable and where it’s located. I made it only a few hours ago.”

“Why would you put it into a memory orb?” he asked sounding skeptical.

“Because it’s the best way for me to make sure I remember what I need to without the memory being in my own head, cutting the memory out makes it so that no other unicorn can dig through my head and find the information. Still risky since the orb can be watched by any unicorn, but easier for me to hide,” she replied.

“How does that help me? I’m an earth pony, I can’t watch memory orbs like a unicorn can.”

“I know you have your ways of getting a recollecter,” Mom said, then she grinned and I felt her pull something else from her saddle bags, “Still, I really don’t feel like giving you the memory orb. If I did, you’d ruin everything,” then she threw it at him along with a spark grenade.

The memory orb was supposed to be a distraction, but Crackerjack wasn’t a stupid pony. He saw the spark grenade before it went off, and he opened his power armor and jumped out of it right before the Grenade went off. When he did he rolled then got back to his hooves, “Oh you’ll pay for that Grimoire.”

“I don’t see how, since you’re out of your power armor, you’re a lot easier to take on now,” her horn flashed and two lines of magical energy blasted toward Crackerjack.

The green pony dodged to one side then rushed her. She teleported, my host’s vision going black then coming back into focus on the other side of Crackerjack. She cast the spell again, the twin lines of energy flying at him like a whip. He turned just in time to avoid taking a blow to his back, but as he turned and jumped back, the tips of the spell slapped him in the face. He howled in pain as two lines were cut into his face, I know that later they’d become the twin scars I’d seen him with. Right now he was howling in pain, looking like he was blind for the moment.

My host unholstered her pistol again and fired. The blast of red magical energy hit home. He was blasted back and sent rolling along the hard ground. When he stopped he didn’t get back up, though his red bar was still there, so he must have been rendered unconscious.

Taking a few steps back she used her magic to pull something else from her saddle bags. A second later she attached what I guessed was a broadcaster to her Pip-Buck, she searched through a couple channels until she found the one she wanted. When she clicked on it she said, “This is Senor Scribe Grimoire Spell, I need to speak with Elder Appleslice.”

A few seconds passed then the familiar voice of the Elder echoed out of her Pip-Buck, “Grim, this is Elder Appleslice. Do you read me?”

“Loud and clear ma’am.”

“Are you out of the Stable and do you have a new report for me?”

“I am and we have a problem,” Mom said not stopping to wait for The Elder to respond, “I didn’t find my contact where he should’ve been, another Steel Ranger from Manehattan was here instead. He wanted the Mark II and he attacked me trying to get the location of the Stable. I was able to fend him off but he’s still alive.”

A moment passed then, “Who was it?”

“Paladin Crackerjack.”

“We got reports that he ran away from his post in Manehattan and stole power armor, keep him alive. Can you retrieve the power armor?”

“No it’s too damaged for me to do anything with it.”

“Vervain knows how to fix it, is there anything she can do?” The Elder asked.

“I’m sorry to say that Paladin Vervain is no longer with me, she didn’t make it out of the Stable. I’ll explain more when I get back,” Mom said.

“We have a team not far from Cartwheel, keep Crackerjack there until they arrive.”

“I can’t do that, he got away, you can still send the team. The power armor will still be here when they arrive, it’s on the west end of town on the other side of the pass.”

“Understood, get back as soon as you can, we’ll need to debrief you.”

“Yes ma’am,” Mom replied.

“Elder Appleslice out,” the broadcast went dead after that.

Looking over at Crackerjack she sighed, “I guess I should get rid of those memories before you make more trouble for me down the road. I just wish you could’ve just shut up and done as you were told.”

Something clicked behind Mom, the sound of a hammer pulling back, a stallion’s voice spoke slowly, “Not so fast Grim, do you know how long I’ve been trying to find you?”

Mom smiled but didn’t move, “It’s been awhile Night Shade.”

“Yes it has. Don’t go trying anything stupid, you know I can kill you before you can do anything to me.”

“That I do, though I didn’t think you would put a gun to the back of my head like this. Do you distrust me so much?”

“You were told what would happen if you left, you knew and you still did,” he sounded angry.

“Yes, but I had to, it was the only way. The question is, why haven’t you shot me already?”

“You should know that already, where’s Star?”

“Oh so that’s it, you didn’t come looking for me, you came looking for her. Well I can tell you that she’s safe.”

“If she’s safe then why isn’t she with you? Did you leave her with those Steel Ranger bastards?” he asked, keeping his voice low, but his anger was easy to hear.

“No, she’s in the Stable I was staying in.”

“I don’t believe you, she’s a sick filly and you’re the only pony who knows how to keep her alive. You wouldn’t let her out of your sight for more than a day or two. Now, where is she?”

“She’s not sick anymore, she’s cured…at least for the most part.”

“And you left her behind? What kind of mother are you to leave your own child behind?”

Something seemed to touch a nerve when he said this and Mom said angrily, “A mother who cares about her daughter’s happiness, don’t patronize me, you don’t even know me anymore Night Shade. You don’t have the right to tell me how to raise my daughter.”

A soft sigh came from behind her, “You’re right, I don’t know you anymore Grim, I’m not sure I ever did. Tell me where she is so I can at least get her home.”

Mom turned her head a little, but I still couldn’t see the pony she was talking to, “Her name is Shadow Star now, she also looks a little different. It’s a side effect from the spell I had to use to save her, she also doesn’t remember anything.”

“You lie!” he yelled.

“I don’t, she didn’t even know who I was until I told her. Something happened to her and because of it, she started having bad dreams. I had to go and block most of her memories for now, until she’s older at least.”

“You mean she doesn’t even know where she’s from, or who her family is?”

“Yes, all she knows is she’s from outside the stable and that I’m her mother, that’s all that matters right now. Just forget about her and me, we aren’t the same ponies anymore, and we aren’t ever going back. Now can you please stop pointing that thing at me so I can go?”

Damn mom wasn’t scared of anything, she’d just taken on a monster of a pony, who would later become a scary Boss for a lot of Raiders, now she was calmly talking to somepony who had a gun pointed at the back of her head. A minute passed then I heard the pony sigh again, “You’re a bitch Grimoire, fine get out of here. I’ll let you go for now, for old time sake, but the next time I see you you’re dead.”

“We’ll see about that,” Mom said her horn glowing again, “Do me one favor Night Shade.”

“I’m not really in the mood for doing Favors but what is it.”

“One day Shadow will leave that stable, I’ve made sure of it. When that days comes…if you can…watch out for her, Just in case I can’t,” Mom said through her sorrow.

The Stallion sighed again, “Until the day I die, you should know that by now, and if I can’t I know another pony who will.”

She smiled a little, “I’m glad to hear that, goodbye Night Shade.”

Before he could say anything else, Mom teleported away. She didn’t even take the extra time to wipe away the memories of Crackerjack, or get the Memory Orb she’d thrown at him. Whoever that pony Night Shade was…she wanted to get as far away from him as she could.

When she reappeared, she was in Cartwheel right in front of Equestrian Express. She sighed, wiped away her tears then pushed the door open. Box Tape was sitting in a chair next to the counter, he smiled his warm welcoming smile at her and said, “Welcome to Equestrian Express how can I help ya ta’day.”

“I need a message delivered to a pony in Los Alicorn, he’s the Elder of the Steel Ranger branch out there.”

Box Tape’s smile fell, “Elder Wolfsbane you mean, how do ya know him?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just say I’m an old friend.”

He looked her over quickly then asked, “You from a Stable?”

“In a way yes, I just left it, Stable 28.”

“Hmmm, odd, you ain’t the normal pony I know who trades from there. Why did you leave the Stable and come all this way?”

“I just told you, now can you get my message to Elder Wolfsbane or not? I’m kind of in a hurry,” she said, her voice sounding strained.

He smiled warmly, “Of Course I can, I have a courier that heads out that way in a couple of days. He’ll be sure to get it to the Elder for you.”

“How much?”

“Six Hundred Caps,” he said still smiling, “Can I ask you one more thing though?”

Mom used her magic to pull out a bag of Caps, she started to count them out on the counter as she said, “I think you just did, but go on.”

“Why do ya’ look so down in the dumps?”

Fresh tears threatened to fall again, mom did her best to keep her composure as she responded, “I had to leave my Stable to escape my Overmare, I had to leave my daughter behind.”

Box Tape’s smile disappeared. He got up off his chair and looked at her again and said, “Wait right there, I’ll be right back.”

As he walked off into his other room, mom moved quickly going around to the back of his counter. Using her magic, she pulled one of the floorboards up, there was a small space under it. Quickly she placed a wrapped bundle into it with a note on top that said, ‘For my Little Star’ she quickly replaced the floorboard then returned to where she’d been standing right before Box Tape returned.

He came in with two Sparkle Cola’s, he set them down on the counter then said, “I understand what it’s like to have to say goodbye to a child. Now how about you tell me everything, you look like you need to get a few things off your chest.”

Mom laughed, then broke down, she started sobbing uncontrollably. Box Tape just shook his head and walked over to her. He pulled her into an embrace and let her cry into his shoulder slowly patting her back, “There you go child, just let it all out…”

The memory melted away, the sounds of mom’s sobs still echoing in my mind…

When I came out of the Memory Orb, the first thing I did was check my surroundings. The memory hadn’t been very long, but it was long enough for somepony to do something, but nothing seemed to be wrong. I was still laying on the bed, the memory orb sitting next to me. Maybe Silver really had been cranky and she just reacted to what I was doing badly. I hated to admit it, but I didn’t really know what Silver Snip was like when she got angry. Maybe this was it, though I still felt like something was off.

Then I heard something on the other side of the cave. Sitting up I saw Silver, she was rummaging through my Saddle bags searching for something. I also noticed that she was talking to herself, “Where the fuck is she keeping it? It has to be here somewhere.”

“What the fuck are you doing in my saddle bags!?”

She jumped and looked over her shoulder at me, “Oh you’re up already? I figured that would’ve taken longer.”

Getting up I walked toward her, my magic taking hold of Dream Walker which was still holstered on my side. I kept it pointed down though and said, “What the fuck was that all about huh? Did Lust threaten you or something, is that why you’re acting so different?”

She smiled at me, “Lust didn’t make me do anything Shadow, I already told you why I was acting the way I am.”

“Bullshit!”

Her cocky smile faded, “Believe me or don’t, I’m still me. It’s not my fault you can’t seem to figure that out.”

“Why are you looking through my bags?”

She looked lost for a second, almost like she was trying to find the right answer, “Uh…I was looking for a recording.”

“What recording?”

“The one you took off Gluttony, I wanted to listen to it,” she said, giving me a sweet smile. It was almost perfect, just like I’d expect from Silver when she was being her normal self. It was almost like a switch had been flipped and my loving Silver was back.

“Why do you want it?”

“It doesn’t matter I just do,” she replied.

Using my magic I pulled the saddle bags closer to me and shut it. Something was wrong here, I could tell. Deciding to go with my gut I asked, “Silver, I’m sorry I upset you earlier, but before I give it to you can you tell me something?”

“Sure thing Shadow, and I’m sorry I hit you, I really don’t know what came over me,” there it was again, that sweet smile of hers, a perfect copy of the Silver I knew and loved, but I could see through it now. Her eyes told me a different story than her smile did, there was no joy in those eyes, they were empty. They lacked the compassion, the love, and the playfulness they should have.

“Who’s Morning Star?” I asked, almost whispering the words.

The question took Silver by surprise, she chuckled nervously then said, “That’s a silly question Shadow.”

“Just answer me.”

“Fine, it’s the name you like to go by when you’re in a bad mood,” she said, waving her hoof in a small circle, almost like it was nothing.

I felt my heart break, it couldn’t be. She was right, it was a silly question, but it was also one she should know more than any other pony. Closing my eyes, I brought Dream Walker up and pointed it right at her head. Anger flowed through me along with my sorrow as I asked, “Who are you and what did you do with Silver?”

She backed up a little, “Shadow what’re you doing? Put that down before somepony gets hurt.”

I pulled back on the hammer, “Who the fuck are you and what did you do with Silver!? Don’t try and lie to me again, or I swear to The Goddesses, I’ll drop you here and now.”

Her expression changed and she smiled wider, “Damn, I thought it would have taken you a lot longer to figure it out,” she started to clap her hooves together, then she stood, “What was it I got wrong? Was it the eyes or was it my charming personality? Did I miss a birth mark or was it something else? Maybe it was the cutie mark, I do have such a hard time making one that’s perfect.”

As she stood I noticed something green glowing around her, “Who are you? What are you?”

“Now-now Shadow, it’s my turn to talk,” she said, but this time her voice was different, it sounded more like a Stallion, it was still light and not deep, but still unmistakably male. The glow around her expanded, it passed over her body and she transformed. It started at her chest splitting, part of the glow going up the other going down. Her coat changed from apple red to sickly green, the body grew, her mane changed to black and changed into long spiky dreadlocks that hung just inches from the ground, a red head band wrapped around her…no his head. That nasty grin grew wider as he looked at me with his vibrant purple eyes.

Fear gripped me as I looked over at the pegasus who just a moment ago had looked like my mare friend. Somehow, he had changed into a set of black combat armor with a Tribal Serpent on the flank. I didn’t even have to ask, I knew who this had to be. The last Sin, I took another step back, Dream Walker shaking in my magical grip.

“Hello Shadow, I’m Envy the Jealous, first member of The Seven Sins of Equinity,” he said chuckling as he slowly walked toward me, his wings fluttering in excitement.

Wait a second… first member? I cocked my head to one side, “First member? I thought that Pride would be the first member of the Sins since he’s the Leader.”

He laughed, “You think we’re ranked like that? Yes, Pride is the leader, but we’re ranked by who’s the strongest. Pride is the second member of the Sins, it’s true that I may not be able to kill him, but he can’t beat me in a fight. None of the Sins can, honestly I’d be the perfect pony to lead the Sins, if I cared to.”

None of this mattered right now, I didn’t just have Stardust to worry about, now I had to know what happened to Silver. Somehow between getting to Frosty Summit and here, Envy switched with her. Either they captured her too…or…she was dead. No matter what it was, I’d have to find out. I steadied Dream Walker, took a deep breath, then said, “What did you do with Silver Snip? If you hurt her? I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Oh, she’s fine, at least for now,” Envy said.

“Where is she?”

“She’s safe I promise. Right now, she’s keeping my friends company.”

“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE!?” I yelled, pulling back on the trigger just a little.

The large smile on Envy’s face slackened, as he looked over at me, “I told you she’s safe, for now at least, or did that not get through your thick skull Shrimp? If you do what I want you to do, then she’ll stay that way, if not…”

I pulled the trigger, Envy was cut off by the bark of my pistol firing. He jumped to one side then rushed me. Before I could get another shot off, Envy took hold of my neck, put me into a head lock then twisted me around, slamming me down to the rocky floor of the cave. I lost my hold on Dream Walker as he pinned me down. I tried to buck him off, but he was a lot stronger than I was. I tried to take hold of my gun again, but he slammed a hoof down on my horn.

Stars erupted in my vison as pain flew from my horn and into my head. I wanted to scream, but Envy was still holding my neck, keeping me in the head lock. His muzzle came close to my ear as he whispered, “I wouldn’t try that again, you don’t stand a chance against me.”

As he spoke he let up on my throat so I could breathe. I took a few quick breaths then said, “I’ve killed one of you already, and took another captive. What makes you think I can’t take you on?”

“Because, I’m a hundred times stronger than most of them, even Pride. They have nothing on me. So be a good mare and listen, or keep fighting me and die. Just so you know, if you do I won’t only kill you, I’ll kill the kid, your griffon friend, and Silver,” he said then slowly he got off me and backed away.

I got up as well, rubbing my neck slowly. I wanted to do something, but what could I do? He was right, I had no way of fighting him. Keeping my head down I asked, “What do you want? Why did you take Silver? Why even make yourself look like her?”

He looked at me, “Heh heh,” he smiled wickedly again “Now there’s a good pony. It’s simple really, we need you alive Runt, at least for now.”

“Could’ve fooled me, just last night your friends tried killing me.”

His smile widened at that, “Ha! That they did, but you see, I’ve been following you for a long time now Pipsqueak, there’s something special about you, and I don’t just mean your Pip-Buck. Pride and Cloak may want you dead, I’m sure you know Cloak wants your Pip-Buck, but somepony in the High Council wants you kept alive.”

“Then why did they try and kill me last night?”

“Cloak knows it’s the fastest way to get you’re Pip-Buck. She has her orders and I have mine. If they couldn’t take you out when we went in to get Stardust, then I was to take you in alive. The problem with that is, you always seem to find a way to get away. You’re one lucky mare, so we needed a backup plan. That’s where I came in,” he said still smiling his large smile.

“So you took Silver to make sure I’d go along with your plan.”

“Oh look, you ARE a smart pony. You got it Kid,” he cackled “You see if we have the one pony you care about more than even yourself, then you’ll do whatever we want.”

He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it, “How do I even know you’re telling me the truth, how do I even know Silver’s still alive?”

“You don’t, but I give you my word that she is. It will have to do for now. If you don’t do what I want, she’ll die, and not quickly either. I’ll make sure she suffers for a long time before she finally kicks the bucket,” he looked off to the side, “Maybe I can’t get her to write her bucket list now, a lot of good that would do her,” he cackled again, “She wouldn’t get much use of it anyways”

I lowered my head, defeated, I couldn’t bargain with the life of any of my friends. They had Stardust, and now Silver. If I did anything that pissed them off, both of them would die, same for my other friends. Doing my best not to let my sorrow show I asked, “How long have you been following me?”

He started to laugh louder, “You mean before I knocked out your mare friend and took her hostage or after?”

“I figured you took Silver during the battle at Frosty Summit, so before.”

“Ever since we got the call that the Mark II left your Stable,” he said still chuckling.

Another chill ran down my spine, why have they been following me for so long? Unless…. “You were the ones who sent the transmissions to my Overmare, weren’t you?”

“Close but no apple cider. No, Cloak hired another faction of griffons to locate the Mark II then to get it from your Stable. When they got the call about you running away with it, I was sent to Cartwheel to find and follow you. Simple job at first, Cloak wanted to see where you would go with the Mark II and to see what you were planning on doing with it. She wasn’t sure why a Stable Dweller would just up and run away with it unless she knew what she had.”

He started to slowly walk around me as he spoke, “You remember the Bartender back in Cartwheel, the one who made you that nice dinner you enjoyed with the old pony? Well that was me.”

I just sat there in horror as he spoke, only able to speak in a small whisper, “What happened to the Bartender if you were disguising yourself to look like him?”

“Oh Shrimp, I think you know.”

“You killed him?”

“Very good! I’m not sure if they’ll find his body or not though,” he said almost like an afterthought, then he shrugged, “Doesn’t matter, well after you took down the Raider camp I knew there was something different about you, so I decided to keep following you. It wasn’t hard at first, I knew where you were going. Now getting into the Steel Ranger bunker, that was hard. Luckily for me an hour or so before you arrived, I was able to take down a Knight of theirs. I made myself look like him, stole his power armor, and was able to be there when you were attacked.”

“You mean you were Knight Spike Hoof too?”

“Oooo two for two, can she guess correctly again?” he laughed once more, “I think I did a good job with that one. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in the bunker and he was a pony I’d seen a few times before. After that I did lose track of you for a little bit. When you blew a hole in the cloud layer… that pissed a few ponies off. I was called back and the hunt to take you down was on. It took a little convincing, but I was able to get Cloak to let me come back and start watching you again. I saw when you first met Wrath, Pride, and Greed in Freedom. I saw the fun time you had with your friends in New Pegasus, I even watched as you escaped Stable 14. I watched you use Greed to help you escape from The Bramble, and when I saw you with Silver, I finally knew what had to be done. She was the key to getting you to come to us willingly.”

“Why? I don’t understand why you wanted to know so much about me or why I matter so much. I’m just a normal Unicorn.”

He just smiled again and laughed, “You don’t matter all that much Kid, but you ARE interesting. I like things that interest me, and having you alive can benefit Cloak too. She wants the Pip-Buck yes, but if we outright kill you we risk the Pip-Buck wiping the data on it. It’s a risk she was willing to take, but now, we don’t have to.”

I sighed, “So here we are, you have the mare I love and my best friend. You’ve finally backed me into a corner, what do you want me to do?”

“It’s simple Small Fry, I want you to leave this place and go to where the rest of the Sins are waiting for you. If you do, then Silver gets to go free. You also can’t bring the brat or your bodyguard. If we see them at all, Silver dies.”

My heart felt like it was breaking again, I held back the sobs that were trying to press their way past my thin walls of defenses, threating to overwhelm me. I closed my eyes and said, “Fine, I’ll make sure Aura and Wingnut stay here. When do we leave?”

The green glow showed up around Envy again, a moment later he took the form of Silver, “We aren’t doing anything Shadow. I’m leaving now, you’ll wait here, long enough to leave a note telling your friends that you left. You can’t tell them where you went or why. I don’t want you leaving them some kind of clue of what happened. Like I said, if we see them following you in any way, Silver dies.”

I closed my eyes hard, trying and failing to hold back the tears, “Fine…and what about Stardust?”

Envy laughed again, “Don’t concern yourself with that runaway. I’ll tell you he’s still alive, but he isn’t your problem anymore.”

“But he’s my friend…”

Envy moved close to me cutting me off, “He’s a tool of the Enclave just like us, he’s not your friend. You have no idea what or who he really is. All you’ve seen is a pony that likes to joke around and protects you, but that’s not who Stardust really is. Just forget about him, and worry about yourself. He won’t die, but you’ll never seen him again,” he turned and started to walk out of the cave, he stopped then turned back to look at me. In Silver’s sweet voice he said, “You have one day to meet Pride and the rest of us at The Halo One power station at the top of the main tower. If you’re late, she’s dead. If you try and do anything to save her, she’s dead. If you do anything that isn’t what I told you to do, she’s dead.”

After that he was gone, leaving me to sit there looking out at the darkening cloud covered sky. It took me a few minutes to find the strength to finally get back to my hooves and make my way over to the bed. Quietly I pulled my saddle bags over to me and fished out a scrap of paper. It took me a little longer to find something I could use to write with. Once I finally did, I started to write…

Aura,

I’m sorry to have to do this, but I’ve been thinking about things while you were away. First, I want you to know that I’m happy I met you. You have no idea how good it felt to find a friend in The Wasteland, one that seemed to understand me more than anyone ever has. Thank you for being my friend even after everything that happened. Sadly, I can’t do this anymore, I can’t keep searching for my mom, or for the answers behind the Mark II. I’m so tired Aura, tired of the secrets, the lies, and the pain. Please make sure the Caps get to Gigi or Apollo so they can try and find Stardust. All I ask is that you try and get him back. He deserves a better life than he’s had.

I also want you to keep an eye on Wingnut for me, make sure he finds a good place to live, somewhere his mind can be put to good use to make things better in The Wasteland. He’s a good kid, and where I’m going, I can’t take him. I’m ending our Contract and heading east, I’m going to see about getting into Tenpony Tower in Manehattan. Mom said she had a friend there that would take me in. I hope you find you’re place in this world. Remember that things aren’t always bad. Remember to laugh now and then and not to dwell in the past too much, you’re better than that. Goodbye.

Shadow Star

P.S. You were right, I should’ve listened to you from the beginning.

Finishing the letter, I set it down on the bed and placed Aura’s contract down on top of it. A single tear fell and landed on the note, smudging it where I’d signed my name. Turning I headed out of the cave and back down toward the open area of Crimson Canyon. Slowly I walked over to the Statue of Greta and looked up at it. She looked so proud and strong, more than I could ever be. I wondered to myself if she had to make an impossible decision like this. If so what would she have done? I’m sure she wouldn’t have given up, like I was right now.

I turned east, toward the exit of Crimson Canyon and started to walk away, leaving behind my last two friends. I knew how Aura and Wingnut would take me leaving, they would see it as a betrayal in no small way. I’d promised Wingnut that I’d never leave him behind or abandon him, now I was. I told Aura that I would always be there for her just like she was for me, now I was leaving on a lie. But what else could I do? Either Silver died and I stayed with my friends, or I left and lied to them about why I had to leave, and Silver would live. My world was coming to an end, there was no way out of this, I have to do this. Either way I’d lose the mare I loved, at least this way, she’d get to live. Maybe one day she’d find a better mare, one that was better than I was. I’m sure when she was freed she’d find Aura and tell her what really happened. Aura would be pissed, but she couldn’t do anything by then. It was for the best, it had to be this way.

As I started to exit the Canyon, I took one last look behind me, back at my old life just like when I left Stable 28. I took a deep breath and whispered, “Goodbye…”

Enhanced Telekinesis: You have learned how to better control your Telekinesis, you can now hold more than one weapon and manipulate multiple things at the same time.