“You know what the best part about being the Elder is, don’t you?”
I followed The Stranger as he led us out of the office and back out onto the cracked asphalt of the old broken-down base. Aura kept behind me, her eyes darting around looking for anypony that might give us trouble. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked back at her and said, “Aura calm down a little, I don’t think we have to worry too much around here.”
She rolled her eyes, “You can run into trouble anywhere Shadow, you should know that by now.”
The Stranger chuckled a little, “Not around here you don’t, The Annihilators are ponies who live by specific rules. You have to remember that they’re Stable ponies just like you Shadow. If their leader gives them an order no matter how much they don’t like it, they’ll listen to her. She’s just like the Overmare in a stable.”
“Even in a stable, ponies don’t always do what the Overmare says you know,” I replied.
“Yeah, what’s stopping a pony with a grudge from trying something?” Aura added.
“The rule of law here is if you disobey the Leader, you die,” he said, moving around a corner of one of the hangers and heading out toward the longest runway.
Aura sighed, “That sounds really harsh. At least with The Red Talons they just kick you out.”
He chuckled again, “It may sound harsh but it does keep order around here.”
“The sounds like a dictatorship. What a horrible way to live, then again I lived in such a way. Hey Stranger, where are we heading anyway?” I asked.
“A place my family has kept hidden away for over two hundred years. It’s the whole reason everything’s happening to you Shadow,” he said walking off the runway and toward a small solar array. The array’s themselves were mostly smashed or broken down, the smaller chain-link fence had rusted away leaving only a few metal poles and a couple links still in place. Right under the array was a small concrete building no bigger than a house, with a metal door.
“Your family has been hiding a building?” Aura asked as he walked up to the door.
He looked back at her, “No, it’s what’s inside that matters,” he moved up to a terminal and typed a few things in. A sharp thump sounded from inside and the door swung open, “Follow me inside and make sure the door locks behind you, this part of the base is one area The Annihilators can’t get into and I’d like to keep it that way.”
He walked into the small building, Aura followed and I went in after her. Once we were inside, I pushed the door closed. As soon as I did, I heard the lock click. The room wasn’t large and was lit by only a few weak lights that hung over broken panels and terminals. Off to one side of the entryway was a storage room that had been picked clean years ago, leaving only empty metal shelves and dust. On the far wall there was a nicer looking terminal screen imbedded into the wall. It was the only thing in this dump that looked like it worked.
“I’d ask if this was all you wanted to show us, but I’m sure that terminal over there is more than it looks,” I said following him as he moved closer to it.
“Nope, it’s just a terminal. This is the first true lock however that protects the secrets hidden under the base, and for the past twelve years, I haven’t been able to get past this point. Your mother used that Pip-Buck to lock it down so that nopony could go any farther than this. Smart idea I guess, I think she did it just to keep me off her trail. I know she wasn’t ever able to get past the second lock so I know everything down there should be fine, but I can’t be sure.”
“Wait, are you telling me that the only reason you needed me to come here was to unlock this terminal so you could get in?” I asked, starting to get a little pissed. “I don’t like being used.”
He laughed, “No, if that was all I wanted I would’ve told you as much. Personally, I don’t have to go down there if I don’t feel like it, all your mother did was make it harder for other ponies to get in. made my job here much easier, but if you want to see what she really wanted here you’ll have to unlock it.”
“I guess I have no choice, but this better be good.” I said walking over and hooking The Mark II up to the terminal.
Level 3 Mark II lock down found on host terminal. Lock down has been in place for twelve years two months and three days.
Systems running properly on host terminal, lock down has been tampered with six times and is still holding strong. SB Mark II was the Pip-Buck to close off this Terminal. Do you wish to remove the Lockdown and reinstate connection of Terminal for any user to access?
Yes/No
I clicked on Yes and watched as the Mark II unlocked the terminal. When it was finished the screen on the terminal lit up with a menu. I unplugged the connection cord and said, “There you go.”
“Perfect, now let me get us inside,” The Stranger said. He moved up to it and reached up to his neck pulling off something that was hidden under his bandages, it was a small collar with a pulsing red gem. He moved it to a pocket on his trench coat then typed something on the terminal. A message came up on the terminal then he spoke into a small microphone, his voice sounded different this time, it wasn’t as deep and it was smoother and comforting, “Passcode entry, voice command override, Twelfth Guardian Lima Personal passcode, Chisana Hoshi.”
“What was that all about?” I started to ask when the wall next to the terminal vanished, revealing an elevator, “Oh, okay.”
“Oh great, a tight elevator that leads down into who knows where,” Aura said.
The Stranger looked back at us, “Don’t worry, once we’re at the bottom it’s not so bad.”
“Let’s just get this over with.” She said walking past him and getting into the elevator. I did the same followed soon by The Stranger.
He threw a switch, the wall reappeared in front of us, a light came on overhead and the elevator dropped. It moved down the shaft so fast that I had to hold on to Aura to keep on my hooves. When I finally got used to the speed of the Elevator and I caught my breath I asked, “So you DO use a voice modulator.”
“Yes I do, there are ponies out there that’d know who I am just by hearing my voice. If that happened it’d put an end to what I’ve been able to accomplish over the years. My role in Equestria is vital, and I need to keep my position if I am to be able to finish my work. This is why I can’t even show you who I am Shadow, even now,” he said over the rattling of the Elevator.
“How does Shadow knowing who you are matter that much? Don’t you trust her by now?” Aura asked.
“It has nothing to do with trust Aura, it has to do with who she’s up against. The Enclave has Unicorns that specialize in memory extraction. If she was to ever to be captured by them, I can’t risk anypony finding out who I am, even this is a big risk to me,” he said reaching into his pocket and pulling the collar again replacing it over his neck under the bandages.
“From the information you know I take it you hold a high position in The Enclave,” I said trying to pry as much as I can without asking too much.
“I wouldn’t say that, I’m not trusted with a whole lot just yet, but one day I plan on being able to hold more power. I can’t do that if I’m killed or branded,” he replied, his voice back to what I was used to.
The elevator started to slow down to a stop. A metal door opened up into a long hallway. We all walked out and I said, “I guess that all makes sense, but I do wish you’d put more trust in my ability to avoid The Sins or the rest of The Enclave.”
As we walked down the hall I could see another door, but it was behind a bright pink magical barrier. Aura walked close to it and chuckled, “I figured this was the reason you said the other two couldn’t come with.”
“That’s right, I take it you’re familiar with this kind of barrier.”
Aura nodded, “We run into them now and then while working jobs. It’s a big pain in the ass when your contract holder wants you to get something on the other side and they don’t understand how this kind of magic works.”
I looked at it confused about what they meant, “So it’s a magical barrier, I’m sure there’s a way to get rid of it somehow.”
“This is no ordinary magical barrier Shadow, it’s has what’s called a bypass spell on it. Only ponies who’ve been programmed into the spell can pass through it, there’s no other way to turn it off or get rid of it. At least from this side that is,” The Stranger said.
“Then how do you plan for us to get by it?” I asked.
“Easy, you see a bypass spell will let the descendants of ponies, zebras, or griffons by also, that’s why I was okay with Aura coming with us. I don’t think you’d be able to get through on your own, but I can and so can Aura, either one of us can pull you through with us. This is the second protection and why I didn’t worry about your mom getting in here, she can’t pass through it.”
“Why can Aura then?”
Aura chuckled, “I’m guessing that this has something to do with Greta doesn’t it?”
He nodded again, “It does, she was one of the only ones that Night Stalker trusted in his whole life. My family was another that’s why I can pass through, Aura since you came from Greta’s bloodline you’ll be able to get through.”
“And you wanted her to come along because?” I asked.
“Because I knew that if I told you about this and it was only the two of us, you wouldn’t feel safe knowing you couldn’t pass through it again once on the other side if I wouldn’t let you,” he said moving forward and slipping through the barrier like it wasn’t even there.
“Well at least one good thing comes from being descended from that bird brain. C’mon Shadow let’s get this over with,” Aura said taking my hoof and pulling me through with her.
As my body slid through the barrier I felt something cold run up my spin and I shivered. The feeling passed as soon as I was on the other side, “ah heh heh that felt so weird.”
The Stranger looked back at me and chuckled, “It takes some getting used to. Luckily for us, that is the only one in here.”
“How many levels of security is on this place?” I asked as we walked up to the door.
“Two just to get into the main chamber, there is one more if you want to enter the control room. We’ll have to get past them too, but they won’t be a problem for me to turn off,” he said moving up to the door and typing in a few numbers on a pad next to the door. It hissed and I could hear internal locks opening, “Once we’re inside, make sure both of you stay next to me. Don’t wander off, don’t step off the walkway, and for the goddesses sake DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING.”
“We’re not three, I’m sure we can keep our talons or hooves to ourselves,” Aura said as the door finally slid open.
He just chuckled again and walked through the door. We both followed, the floor under my hooves went from hard concrete to metal. The room we walked into wasn’t large, it was also pretty dark with only one light hanging over a small panel with a tall metal box behind it. There were small red lights running along the top of it pulsing slowly.
“Wow that was worth the long creepy elevator ride,” I said sarcastically, walking closer to the panel and the tall metal box, “I was expecting something a lot more impressive, what is this anyway? A mainframe?”
“This isn’t what I brought you here to show you,” The Stanger said placing his hoof on a switch on the panel, “This mainframe just controls the lights and some of the minor systems around here, this is what I wanted to show you,” he said pulling the lever.
A loud hum started to come from somewhere deep in the darkness, then more lights came on around us. I blinked a couple of times watching as the wall behind the mainframe split and pulled aside, the wall wasn’t a wall at all but a large door, one so massive it made the Stable door look small. It had to be ten feet thick and it was almost as tall as the walls around Trotston. As it split and pulled away, a rush of air blew past my face as what lay beyond was revealed.
There was a massive chamber beyond, thousands of lights illuminated it from ceiling to floor, and it still looked dark. The chamber had to be as large as my stable. Walkways jutted out from where we stood going out toward large power generators, each one had cables twice as thick as I was running from them into the natural rock walls that were built into it sending power somewhere. I moved forward and looked over the railing and down into the depths of this massive chamber. On the bottom floor I saw ten massive domes in rows, five on each side.
I could see different colored lights pulsing from each one, they also had long tubes and cables coming out of them. Most of them went into the walls to but each dome had one that went toward a central platform that sat in the middle of the floor, connecting to its base. The platform itself had a symbol on it, a crescent moon with a sword running through it and wings flaring out from each side. My eyes came back up and I noticed more generators running around each wall of each level all the way down to the ground.
“What am I looking at?” I asked in awe.
“This is the power source for one of the innovated projects ever created by pony kind. A massive mega spell that was created to protect Equestria in the event of an invasion.” The Stranger said moving to come stand by the railing with me.
“Who made this?” I asked still not able to take in what I was seeing.
“It was a joint effort with The Ministry of Awesome, The Ministry of Arcane Science, Stable-Tec, and The Children of the Night.” He said.
I looked over at him a little shocked, “How did Night Stalker get them to all work together on this? I thought Stable-Tec wouldn’t work with the Ministries.”
He sighed, “Like I said, I don’t have all the details, but somehow he blackmailed one of the heads of Stable-Tec into helping build what you see now, Applebloom was the one who came up with the design for most of what you see. The MOA wasn’t hard since he worked for them, The MAS was harder for him to get help from, he had to go around Twilight to use her unicorns for the Megaspell chambers.”
Aura seemed to finally come back to reality and she asked, “You mean those domes down there are all Megaspell chambers?”
He nodded, “Each one holds a different kind of megaspell, they all work together for some massive spell.”
“What kind of spell requires that many megaspells?” I asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea, we don’t know what any of this does. The knowledge was lost when Night Stalker disappeared. When the war ended only three knew what this did. One was Night Stalker himself, the other was Greta, the last was Minuette,” He looked over at Aura and continued, “As far as I know, Greta never told anypony or griffon about this.”
Aura shrugged, “I can’t say I know everything about her, when she started the Red Talons she had already had her falling out with The Enclave. If she told anyone about this it would have been her Son who took over as the leader when she left. Its possible that this secret was passed down to each leader, but if so, only Gigi would know.”
“That’s what I thought as well,” he continued, “Minuette couldn’t have told anypony about it because according to the records she vanished during the balefire assault. No pony knows what happened to her. Night Stalker entrusted the secret of this location to the first guardian when he became a Dashite, but never said what it did, only that it was to be kept a secret.”
“If that’s true then how did my mom know about this?” I asked, “Better yet, how did you know she knew about it?”
He looked back at me, “Your mother is one of the best unicorns with memory spells. She found out about this place from the last guardian, who was a friend of your fathers. This was the first place she came to try and save you when you were young. Sadly, she didn’t know that the project can’t be activated from here. This place only houses the power and mega spell chambers. As to how I know what she learned, that is because I was given the information when I took over as the new Guardian.”
“So, this isn’t where she came to save me?” I asked.
“No, I still don’t know where she did that, or how she did it. I figured that once she did what she needed to keep you alive, she would have gone back home, but she didn’t.”
“Yeah, she took me to Stable 28. I never could understand why.”
He shrugged, “It’s possible that she thought she would have been killed for leaving like she did and joining the Steel Rangers. It’s also possible that she learned something more about this project afterwards and wanted to learn more.”
Aura got a faraway look as she said, “Or maybe she was looking into Aquila.”
The Stranger looked over at her asking, “What’s Aquila?”
“It’s a long story.” I said glaring over at Aura.
He waved his hooves around as if to say, ‘I’m showing you all this and you want to keep something hidden from me?’ “I’m sure we have time for you to give me a simple explanation Shadow.”
I facehoofed, “It’s hard to explain because I don’t know everything about it, but Aquila is the name of some kind of creature that lives inside my mind and body.”
He gave me a sidewise glance, “That sounds kind of crazy?”
“Yeah, it does, but she’s not crazy. I’ve seen it, Aquila is real and crazy.” Aura said.
He looked thoughtful for a second, “I know I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t remember from where.”
“All I know is that the day mom saved my life and cured me, Aquila became a part of me. From what I’ve learned from her, I need her to live and she needs me to live.” I said.
It took him another minute or two before he finally said, “I know I’ve heard about this kind of thing before,” he turned and walked toward a lift that was at one end of the platform, “Follow me you two.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“We’re heading down to the lowest level. I know there is something about Aquila in the control room.” He said.
Shrugging Aura and I followed The Stranger to the large lift, when we reached it, he pulled the lever and it started to slowly move downward. As the lift moved I asked, “What I don’t understand is if this project is so important and dangerous, then why didn’t somepony destroy it a long time ago? Also, why are you showing this to me?”
“Yeah, it seems like the simplest thing to do.” Aura said.
“I wish it was that simple, but it’s not. There is so much power in here along with multiple megaspell chambers. Any attempt to destroy this chamber would most likely wipeout everything in the region or possibly further.” He said
“You’re joking right?” I asked looking over the edge at the megaspell chambers that were slowly getting closer, “That’s just crazy.”
“I wouldn’t joke about something like that. The only way the power source could be destroyed is if it was dismantled. To do something like that, it would take countless numbers of highly trained Unicorns to attempt it. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the wasteland is kind of lacking in the highly trained unicorn department.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Yeah, I can understand that. So, that’s why this place has been kept secret?”
He nodded, “It is, the hope was that the longer we kept it hidden away, the better chance there was of it fading from history.”
“There has to be someway of shutting this thing down.” Aura said.
“There is a way, but no pony alive knows how to do it, even if we did, we don’t know where the main control center for it is.” He said.
“What about cutting off the power from the megaspell chambers, wouldn’t that work?” I asked.
“It would, but the cables are protected with multiple protection spells, again we’d need highly trained unicorns to take them down. Trust me Shadow my family has been trying to think of something to shut it down for two hundred years. We thought of everything, it can’t be done.”
I couldn’t take this anymore, “THEN WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME THIS?”
“Because you need to understand the significance of the danger that could come from Grimoire gaining access to this facility.”
“From what I can tell there isn’t much here, it’s just a massive battery. Yeah, it could explode and obliterate everything, but who would be crazy enough to do something like that?” Aura said.
“I have to agree with Aura, what could she do if she got in here?” I asked.
“I’m sure by now you’ve realized what your mother is capable of Shadow.”
“I do now, but how do you know so much?”
He grinned from under his bandages, “I know because I’ve been watching you Shadow.”
“SO YOUR WATCHER!”
“Um…no…Who’s Watcher?”
“The guy who showed up the first time I was in trouble when I got out of my stable, and when we saved Wingnut. He keeps hacking into Sprite-bots to talk to me. He was the pony who unlocked the first layer of protection on the Mark II, you mean to tell me that wasn’t you?” I asked, I mean come on he had to be the guy behind the metal bugs.
He started to laugh as the platform reached the ground level, “Haha Shadow, I couldn’t even explain to you how to work half of the things on a normal terminal, let alone hack into robots that were created by the Ministry of Morale. I’m a solider not a terminal expert.”
“Then how have you been watching me?” I asked, I wasn’t go to push the ‘you have to be Watcher subject.’
“From where I’m based in Stratus we have different ways of keeping an eye on what’s going on in the Wasteland. The M.A.S.E.B.S. towers have cameras on them, I just use them to keep an eye on you.” he said simply, stepping off the lift and heading off toward a set of stairs alongside the wall that lead up to a small observation room. He moved up the steps and to a simple looking metal door, he looked back saying, “This will be the last security check point, no matter what happens next, don’t say anything or even move until the door opens.”
“How bad of a check point is this?” I asked, I mean come on it’s a stupid fucking door.
“Trust me, just keep quite.” He said turning his attention back to the door and a small terminal that was next to it, “I require Entry.”
A panel opened up over the door and a mini gun slid out and pointed right at The Stranger, then a voice I knew all too well from Night Stalker’s memory orbs, came out of the terminal, it was the cheery voice of Minuette, “If you want entry into the Control room you’ll need to know the answer to this question. Mind you if you get it wrong, you won’t be leaving this place alive, so good luck. Who are the Children of the Night?”
The Stranger cleared his throat and said, “We are the Ponies hidden in plain sight, to keep the ponies of Equestria safe in the light.”
“Awww you figured it out on the first try, Okay I guess you can come in, Passphrase accepted.” Minuette’s voice said sounding a little disappointed.
The Stranger let out a breath he had been holding as the mini gun pulled back into the panel. Then he looked back at us and smiled, “We’re good now, follow me inside.”
The door to the small room opened and The Stranger walked in. I followed with Aura not far behind, after seeing the wonder of what was just outside this room, I was quite disappointed with this room. There wasn’t much to see, there were shells of terminals along an observation window that looked out over the megaspell chambers, panels with dark dials, electrical wires running along the floor, and dust everywhere.
The Stranger ignored all of this and headed toward the back of the room, “This place was used for watching over the project as it was being built and to keep everything controlled. They also used to store files for the project itself in here as well,” he said opening what looked like a small storage room, “When I first took over as the Guardian for this place I came here first and started to look through the old files, I think that was where I first heard the name Aquila.”
Following him I looked into the small room and saw boxes stacked on top of more boxes filling almost every inch of the storage room, “What is all of this?” I asked watching as he started pulling boxes down.
“Files and reports for everything in this chamber. Most of it is reports on where they got the materials for building the generators, names of every pony who worked on the chamber, project heads, and other projects that the MOA was working on.” He said finally seeming to find the box he was looking for and pulling it down and setting it on an old table.
The box was labeled ‘Project Failures’ he opened the lid and I saw it was filled with recordings, files, and two memory orbs. Ignoring most of it, he pulled out one file and set it down on the table next to the box, it was titled Aquila. Aura and I both looked at the name on the folder in awe, I put a hoof out and pulled it closer to me, “What is this?”
He shrugged, “I never got around to reading that, I just remembered the word itself. I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to go through all of this, I had only taken over as The Guardian here a year or so before your mother locked me out. During the time I did have down here I went through the important files regarding how this place worked and what to expect if the project ever became operational again. I ran into that while going through the boxes.”
“Can I look at it?” I asked.
“Feel free, it’s not like anything in there can be anymore secretive than what I have already shown you Shadow.” He said.
Aura came to sit next to me looking over my shoulder as I opened the file and began to read what was written down…
Project head Minuette written log for Project Star Gazer,
Log 1
Round one with the project looked like it would be an overwhelming success. With all of the data my team and I have collected over the past year, we thought we had all of the necessary protections put in place. Sadly, it looks like we were wrong, when we first activated the project to run a test on it, the power overloaded and blew out three of the generators and almost wiped out the power grid for the area. We had to go back to the drawing board, we found that to use something this powerful we are going to have to use more generators and rout more power from Halo One just to get the project to turn on with out overloading the systems.
For a pony like me, it was a simple fix only took a couple of days to get the necessary parts and get them installed before we were ready to do a second test run. At first it seemed like everything would work properly, the power was running steady, all the systems were good, we had a green light to go forward with a real run of the system.
Log 2
Shit, I mean holy shit. I really don’t know what the hell happened today. I did everything perfect, I prepared the safety protocols, my team set up everything the way it had to be, but still everything went to shit only five minutes into the project’s run. I looked like a fool in front of Princess Luna and the Boss. A whole year of studying, working my butt off, preparing and what happens? I almost killed Princess Luna and Captain Night Stalker.
Damn, well as for my report, we started up the project with no problems to start out, the numbers were looking good and everything was ready to go. I had the honor of pulling the switch to start Project Star Gazer, what a mistake that was. As soon as power reached 100% things started to go bad. Three ponies died when whatever we created took shape. I still don’t know what happened, but when the light from what we made started to grow bright in the holding chamber, things started to explode, the safety protocols failed, magic like I haven’t felt before in my entire life filled the room followed by a scream that is still giving me nightmares.
Something was alive in the bright light, and it was angry. I was forced to use the Emergency Stop system to put an end to it’s growing power. But even with that, it was still destroying everything within ten feet of it. If it wasn’t for Princess Luna, we would have all died. She cast a spell that trapped the creature within a mega spell chamber we had set aside in case we were successful. Once it was trapped she cast more spells around it to make sure it couldn’t hurt anypony again.
When everything was finished I was told to wipe the minds of any of the ponies that had witnessed the event before sending them home. The three that died will be put down as casualties of war, though I don’t know all the details that will go into the reports. When that was finished Luna pulled me aside with Night Stalker and told us that the chamber we had used to create this creature had to be sealed. She told us that Project Star Gazer was to be shut down and we had to start from scratch. All my work of the last year was ended with a few short and angry sentences.
Log 3
Today I finished doing as the Princess ordered with one small change to the plan. Captain Night Stalker told me to make sure to keep one way open to the sub chamber we had moved the creature too far below where she was first created. He said that one day we might be able to use its power for the good of pony kind. I have always put all my trust into the Captain and today is no exception. He has uncanny intuition. The way into the chamber is sealed but I made sure that it could still be accessed if the right ponies went down there. I decided to use a biometric scanner as the way to get into the sub chamber, I’ve only programmed a few ponies into it. Only myself, Night Stalker, Greta, Amethyst Star, Lightning Dust, and Luna can gain access now.
The odd thing is that when I went back to do my final sweep of the project and the chamber I could swear I heard what sounded like a filly begging me to help her. I looked around and couldn’t find anypony, but the voice kept on asking for help. All that I found was the light that was trapped inside the megaspell chamber. Every time I heard the filly the light seemed to pulse brighter. I didn’t know what to do or what to think so I turned to leave, but before I could I heard one last thing. The voice asked me what its name was, I’m still not sure what I should have done or why I did it, but I told the ball of light it was called Aquila, named after the Constellation of the Eagle. I felt like the name fit since those stars were shining brightly the night she was created. After that I sealed it away.
We will be storing all the reports away for Project Star Gazer, keeping most of it in the Headquarters for the Children. I’m going back to the drawing board to see if we can do something better. I just hope that this time we will succeed. I don’t want to ever see anything like that again, I still can’t get the voice out of my head. I’ve decided to rename the failed project as Project Aquila, hoping that I will be able to forget everything that happened that night. I just hope that no pony ever finds a way into that sub chamber. I don’t want to even think of what would happen if Aquila ever got free.
When I finished reading what Minuette had left in her report I looked up at Aura and asked, “Do you think this is how she was created?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems like it. Isn’t there anyway you could ask her about it?”
I shook my head, “I haven’t even felt as much as a twitch of thought from her since Pride used that curse on her. I can still feel a bit of her power inside me, I can even access it a little if I try hard enough, but it’s almost like she just vanished into nothingness.”
The Stranger had taken the report and read it over as well, when he finished he said, “I haven’t heard anything about this before, none of the files I have back at my place talk about this at all.”
“Well at least one thing good came from coming down here. Now I know that Aquila was the subject of some kind of project, the question is why?” I asked looking back at the folders and files, “I wonder what else they were working on?”
“Maybe there is more information on those memory orbs or on the recordings?” Aura said, reaching out and grabbing one of the orbs looking it over.
“I’ve never viewed the orbs in that box, I have a couple back at my place that I’ve watched with my recollecter, but they had to do with building this chamber.” The Stranger said.
“Maybe I should take them with me, when I have time I could view them and see if they have any more information about Aquila or what they were working on with this project. It may have information on where this was. If so I may be able to figure out what mom did to save my life.”
“The rules have always been that nothing is supposed to leave this place, but I’ve always thought that rule was kind of stupid. As long as it isn’t information on the location of this place or what it can do, then I don’t mind you taking those, just keep an eye on them.” He said.
Aura grabbed the second orb and placed them in my saddle bags for me while I looked back toward the storage room, “So even with all that information sitting in boxes, you still don’t know what this chamber was meant for?”
“No, everything that was important about this place we kept on the terminals here, but they were destroyed forty or so years after the megaspells. We don’t know if it was one of the guardians or what could have happened. All we know is that somepony came in here and broke everything, that’s why nothing in the control room works.” He said walking back to look out the observation window.
“Maybe they wanted to make it even harder for anypony to figure out how to turn this thing on.” Aura said.
“Not like it matters anymore, all I know is that it was pointless, because the project can still be turned on from the main location. That is if anypony knew where it was or what it was.” He said.
As he talked I kept looking through the boxes in the storage room and something caught my eye. Pulling out a large scroll and unrolling it, I saw it was the blue prints to The Lucky Horseshoe. I remembered part of it from memory of Falafel. This one wasn’t the same one Night Stalker had shown him back then. It had even more detail to it along with a sub chamber deep below the tower that looked like it was meant to house something enormous. Also, I could see that the spire that was at the top of the tower itself lead all the way down to the sub chamber. If I understood blue prints I could probably figure out what most of this meant. I looked back at The Stranger who was still looking out the window, so I slipped the blue prints into my saddle bags. I may not be able to understand what everything on it meant, but I knew a colt that may understand it.
When I was done I turned and walked back toward Aura and the Stranger saying, “What you still haven’t explained to me is why this place mattered to my mom? Why do you worry so much about her getting into this place?”
He looked back at me and said, “I know she wanted to get in here once and she locked down the first terminal with your Pip-Buck to make sure no other pony could get in here. I have a feeling she wants to find a descendent of one of the ponies who could get past that barrier so she could get past the bypass barrier. If she does then all she’ll need to do is get hold of the Mark II and she can come in here. What she’ll do I have no idea, but I don’t even want to give her the chance to find out. I’m entrusting this secret with you Shadow and you as well Aura, you know the danger this poses.”
I nodded and so did Aura, “We understand and we’ll keep it a secret.”
“I just wish you knew how to do a memory spell Shadow, it would make this even easier because you could block the memory yourself. From what I have seen of you, that kind of magic isn’t something you know how to do.”
“It’s not, though I’ve never had the chance to try and learn a spell like that. It’s possible I could learn it if I was given the right training or time to study a spell book.” I said.
He looked thoughtful then said, “I’m making a trip tomorrow to Nimbus, I have something to take care of there. I’ll talk to one of the unicorns I know there and see if they have a spell book that has that kind of spell in it. If so I’ll be sure to get it to you.”
I shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind that, but I still don’t see the need to learn that kind of magic. Even if I could figure out how to use that kind of spell I’m not sure I want to block more of my memories.”
“Well it is possible that a spell book that holds Memory spells, you could use it to help unblock your own lost memories.” He said glancing over at me.
I smirked at that, “You know that does sound nice, but I’m sure something will go wrong if I try and unblock them, but if you really want to try then feel free.”
“I’ll do that, well we should probably get out of here. I don’t want to keep your friends waiting too much longer.” He said turning to leave.
Before he could, Aura spoke up, “I have one more question.”
“What’s that?” he asked looking over at the black and red griffon.
She pointed out the window at the megaspell chambers and the platform in the middle of them, “It had to have taken hundreds of ponies to make something this massive, how did this Night Stalker keep it a secret?”
I saw his green eyes widen a little at the question then he looked away, “Minuette and Amethyst Star were very gifted unicorns, they wiped away the memory of this place from every pony’s mind who worked on this project.”
“By themselves? You expect me to believe they had enough power to be able to wipe away every memory from every worker in this place.” She said.
He shook his head, “Not by themselves, they did something else, follow me I’ll show you before we head out.”
He led back out of the room, the door shutting behind us and relocking. He led us back down the steps and toward the massive megaspell chambers, each one giving off a different colored light. On the other side past the others and closer to the elevator was another yet smaller chamber holding one more megaspell. Its glow wasn’t as bright as the others, it almost looked like it didn’t have much power left in it anymore. None of the cables lead from the other chambers to it. It was all by itself with a small platform in front of it. It was on that platform that I saw a chair and a helmet with wires all over it, one last one connecting to the megaspell chamber itself.
He gestured at it and said, “This is one megaspell I happen to know about, it’s a memory manipulation megaspell. Minuette and Amethyst Star both created it. Once a pony puts the helmet on, the spell is activated. It is programmed to wipe out any information in a pony’s mind about this place or the ponies that were working on the project. This is how they made sure no pony ever spoke to anypony else about what they were working on.”
“The spell inside looks like it’s not holding up well.” I said.
“It was used a lot and most of the magic within it was depleted, even now I’m sure that it only has enough power to work on maybe one or two ponies.” He said turning to head back toward the elevator.
Aura chuckled and said, “Damn, well that would do it I guess. Ponies were fucked up back then weren’t they.”
She started to follow The Stranger back to the lift, I was about to do the same when I heard something from behind me. It almost sounded like Aquila, but it came from the central platform, “Shadow…” it seemed to say.
I looked back at the platform that sat in the center of all the other megaspell chambers, was it me or is that Aquila standing in the center of the platform? She was looking over at me, her dark red eyes glowing, “Aquila?”
Aura looked back at me and said, “What did you say Shadow?”
I pointed at the shape still standing on the central platform, “Do you see a silver unicorn standing there?”
The two of them looked over then The Stranger said, “There’s nopony there Shadow.”
I saw her lips pull into a small smile and she said, “You can’t leave yet Shadow, there is more to this place than the old pony knows.”
“What do you mean? Is that really you Aquila? How come I can’t feel you?” I said taking a step toward the platform.
“SHADOW DON’T GO UP THERE!” The Stranger yelled, “THE PLATFORM IS PROTECTED!”
I ignored him, my eyes still locked on the unicorn who looked so much like me, only taller with swapped colors, “Shadow I need this place if I am to be able to get my power back. I can’t keep fighting this spell Pride cast on me, it’s killing me slowly and you as well. Come up here and help me get my power back.”
I stepped one hoof onto the step that lead up to the platform, “I don’t understand, I thought you were able to fight off the spell?”
The Stranger dashed toward me, but he couldn’t reach me before I fully stepped onto the platform itself. He landed at the base of the steps yelling, “Get down from there right now Shadow Star, if you don’t you’ll set up the security system. YOU’LL DIE!”
I looked back at him and said, “Aquila is up here, she needs my help, she’s dying,” I noticed when I grew closer that arterial blood was dripping from her muzzle and eyes, she looked like hell, “If she dies then so do I,”
“That’s not her Shadow, there’s no pony up there, get down now!” he yelled.
I ignored him again and walked up to the White unicorn, “What happened and how can I help?”
“You’re willing to help me Shadow even after what’s happened over the past few weeks?” She asked.
“You helped save my life back at Appleton, I may not like you, but you are the one keeping me alive at least that’s what you told me. I owe you this much. What do I need to do?”
She smiled wider and I noticed the blood was gone and she looked more powerful than ever, “You’ve already done what I needed you to do Shadow, the power in here is enough to help me get back to full strength. You’re such a FOAL!”
The Stranger went to grab me, but before he could I felt something take hold of my magic and he was blasted away from me. Aquila had taken control, without asking me this time, without even seemingly having to try. I noticed then that the megaspell chambers were glowing brightly now and as soon as my horn went off an alarm started to sound around the chamber.
A voice rang out around us, “Warning, unidentified presence found on lowest level. Unauthorized access to ascension platform has been detected, level ten security shut down has been engaged. Termination in progress, anypony that is a member of the MOA or the MAS stand back to avoid possible injury.”
I could hear Aquila starting to laugh inside my head and her presence started to grow stronger, I couldn’t move my body or summon my magic as the Megaspells started to glow even brighter than before. A shield spell went up all around the platform blocking off The Stranger or Aura from getting to me. I felt my head move and it looked up toward the massive generators that were getting brighter as well.
“Now this is what I call power, I’m so glad The Stranger took us here, it was the perfect place for me to get back what is rightfully mine!”
“Aquila what are you doing?” I yelled inside my head, “You said you were dying from that spell, if that was true then how did you take over so easily?”
My own lips moved as Aquila said, “I didn’t lie to you Shadow, I was dying slowly, that spell was draining away my life little by little. When you stepped onto the platform though I was able to pull at the magic that leads into the megaspells and pull some of its power into myself. With that power I was able to banish what was left of Prides fucking curse. You did you’re part well Shadow and now you’ll be the one trapped inside that cage while I roam the wasteland.”
“I won’t let you hurt her you monster!” The Stranger yelled toward me.
My head looked back at them and she grinned, “I’d love to see you try and stop me Pegasus! I am Aquila, I am all powerful, I am the one creature on Equis that was meant to rule over this destroyed world!”
He lifted his revolver, switched out the ammo in it then said around the bit, “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into Aquila, now let her go before you regret it.”
She laughed more as a countdown started, I heard it and said, “Aquila, if you don’t get away now, we’ll both be killed by the security system here.”
“No we won’t, I can stop anything that this place can throw at me. I’ll just use all the power here to stop whatever it wants to throw at us,” Then she spoke to The Stranger, “That puny gun can’t hurt me Stranger,”
He grinned around the barrel of the revolver and said, “Don’t think so huh, Security by pass code, Night Stalker’s Children, shut down the level ten security system.”
As he spoke the alarms stopped and so did the countdown and the same voice said, “Pass code accepted, level ten Security shut down for five minutes, please remove the unidentified pony from the platform before the system is reactivated.”
Aquila looked at him shocked, “How did you do that?” Then she looked down at her hooves, “Why can’t I draw on the power from those megaspells anymore?”
“Because that bypass shuts everything down for five minutes, so I take it you’re Aquila, the thing Shadow said was living inside of her.”
“I am, now stand aside before I’m forced to turn you into a pile of ash.” She yelled at him.
Something was wrong, I could feel it. A moment ago, Aquila was getting stronger, each second that passed it was like power was flowing from the floor, into my hooves and up into my body. Now it was like everything she had been able to gain from the Megaspells was being pulled away. When I noticed I started to laugh, “You didn’t have enough time to get the power you needed to take hold of me Aquila.”
“Shut up Shadow.” She said her eyes still locked on The Stranger, “You may have shut it down for a few minutes, but that is still long enough for me to take you down Stranger.”
“No, it’s not Aquila, you see this weapon I’m holding, it’s a special revolver, passed down in my family for generations now. Its sole purpose is to kill creatures like you, if you make me, I’ll shoot and even if the shot doesn’t kill you, it will kill your host. From what I understand you need her body to live.” He said.
Aura was looking at the Stranger in horror, “You wouldn’t kill Shadow.”
“Yeah, you’ve been doing all of this to keep her safe. So why should I believe anything you say?” Aquila said, her grip on my mind getting weaker with each passing second.
“I’ll do what has to be done to protect Equestria and the ponies who live in it, even if it is killing the pony I swore to protect.” He said, his eyes never leaving mine.
Aura pulled out her spear and put it right up against his neck, “I won’t let you kill her!”
I couldn’t let this happen, not over this stupid bitch taking control of me again, I wasn’t going to let her do this to me or my friend again. Digging deep I found the small pool of magic that was part of Aquila’s power. It was what was left of what she was able to gain from the megaspells. With all my will I took hold of every ounce of her strength, and pulled it into myself demanding the power she had to become my own.
Aquila was about to say something then she noticed what I was doing, “Don’t do that Shadow, you can’t take in that much power!”
I smiled within the depths of my own mind, the power that was entering my soul was almost too much to handle, but I didn’t care. I just kept on smiling as I said, “If you’re so worried then try and stop me Aquila, if you want my body you’ll have to take it!”
Aura and The Stranger were still standing there looking at Aquila. Both looked confused, as if Aquila was making some kind of strange face. Then she said to me, “If you keep taking that much power your mind will break, and your body will die.”
I smiled again then laughed, “We’ll see about that.” I pulled in the rest of the power, as I did Aquila’s presence seemed to vanish and I was back in control of my own body, a small amount of Aquila was still there in the back of my mind, just like I was used to feeling her.
I took in a deep breath then said, “I was able to put her back in her place.”
The Stranger and Aura both lowered their weapons, Aura saying, “Are you okay Shadow? You don’t look well.”
I walked down the steps then almost collapsed into Aura’s arms, my head feeling like it was ready to split in half. I looked up at her and did my best to smile saying, “I’ll be okay Aura, I just took in too much magic. It feels like my head is about to explode.”
She helped me get back to my hooves, I stood for a moment then almost fell again as my head throbbed again, pain running through my horn and eyes. Aura kept me from smacking my face on the floor, “You’re not okay Shadow, we need to get you back up to the base so you can rest up, you can’t even stand up.”
The Stranger moved closer and helped Aura lift me onto her back saying, “She’s right Shadow, we can worry about what happened later, for now let’s get you out of here.”
I nodded and rested my head on her back, “Okay, that sounds like a good idea.”
They started to make their way back to the elevator Aura saying, “I’m not sure this trip was worth it Stranger, I understand that you wanted her to know about this place, but I still don’t think it was worth it.”
She kept talking with The Stranger but I couldn’t hear much of what they were saying. My headache spiked and it almost blinded me with pain as a little chuckle filled my head, “hee hee hee I warned you Shadow, you can’t take in that much power without consequences. Give it back to me before things get worse, because I promise you it will.”
I did my best to smile through the pain, I tried to open my eyes still holding onto the power I’d taken from Aquila, the dim light was like needles stabbing each eyeball. I moaned and closed them again, my head throbbed again and the world felt like it was starting to spin. Then all the power I was holding onto pressed against something deep in my mind. It felt like a thin sheet of glass, as the power I was holding pressed against it I could tell that it was cracked as if something had been damaged inside my own mind. Before I could tell what it was, it shattered. Unbelievable pain filled my head and body as rushes of images started to flow into me.
I thrashed and started to scream, falling off Aura’s back. She tried to catch me but with how much my body was thrashing she couldn’t. I slammed into the ground, but I couldn’t even feel it. Aura and The Stranger both tried to hold me down to the lift’s floor as it slowly made its way back up to the top level of the chamber. I screamed louder as the power I had taken rushed to my horn and it blasted out toward the ceiling barely missing Aura and the Stranger. The pain slowly faded away as the power left me, but the images kept coming. My head fell back to the floor the last thing I saw was the face of Aura trying to tell me something. Funny she seems to do that a lot, she’s always worrying about me. Such a good friend to worry like…that.
I let the flow of images come and I submitted to whatever they were and whatever they had to show me…
oooOOOooo
I was running down the halls of the Steel Rangers bunker, okay maybe it wouldn’t be considered running to most ponies, but for me even a quick trot was as close to a run as I could manage without worrying my nurse. Mom’s been gone for two weeks now, but the nurse I had, knew the same spell as mom did to help keep me feeling better. Today was what mom would call a good day for me and I was going to take full advantage of it. I moved into the mess hall avoiding two knights and a scribe who were trying to leave. I gave a quick sorry as I moved passed them my eyes searching for the pony I needed to see.
As I ran and avoided more Steel Rangers as they moved around the mess hall, I almost ran head first into an old stallion who stepped in front of my path. I came to a halt looking up at the Stallion a wide smile on my face, “Elder Apple Jam I found you at last.” I said in my young voice.
He chuckled lightly, a hoof coming up to rub my black mane, “Heh heh, Morning you are full of vinegar today aren’t you? You know you aren’t supposed to be running around like that.”
“On most days I’m not, but I’m feeling really good today, look I’m barely out of breath.” I said giving him an even bigger smile.
“Well look at that, you do look good today. Are you sure you’re feeling okay little one?” he asked me. He was tall with a peach colored coat and a brown and grey mane, his eyes reminded me a little of mine, they were just a lighter red color.
“I feel fine, even my nurse said I looked better than normal and I decided to go on an adventure.”
“Oh, really now, and what kind of adventure are you planning on doing while you’re in the bunker Morning?”
“There’s a mystery in the bunker and I’m going to solve it, but I need a partner, somepony to back me up in case I get into trouble. That pony is you Elder, I need a wise smart pony like you to help me solve this mystery.” I said confidently.
The elder looked around at the rest of the ponies who were going about their day, then he smiled and looked back at me, “I had a lot of paper work to go over today. We have three missions that just finished up and I need to look over the reports, we lost two rangers out near Appleton last night and I need to read the report on what happened with them, and there are new recruits that need my attention.”
My eyes fell, “I understand, you’re a busy pony, I just wanted the best of the best to help me out. I guess I’ll just go see what one of the scribes is up too.”
He rubbed my mane again, “You know what the best part about being the Elder is don’t you?”
I looked up at him, “No sir.”
He winked down at me, “It means I can slack off whenever I want too. Now what is this mystery you have for us today Detective Morning Star.”
I almost jumped for joy, “You really mean it Elder!?”
“Hehe I sure do; how could I say no to that cute face of yours. Also, it’s not every day you are able to go around playing like this.”
“This is awesome, okay I was talking to Vervain the other day and she told me that somepony has been stealing some stuff from the scribes. We are going to find out who it is and bring him to justice!” I said doing my best not to jump up and down.
His face went from happy to curious, “Knight Vervain told you this did she? And how do you plan on finding out who’s been stealing things?”
My smile grew bigger as I said, “That’s the easy part, I figured that whoever is stealing stuff from the scribes has to be one of the Scribes.”
He thought about that for a moment then said, “You may have a point, but how did you come up with that deduction?”
I looked at him confused, “What’s a deduction?”
He chuckled, “It means idea, how did you figure that out?”
“Oh, well Vervain said that this pony has been getting away with it for six months now and they only just caught it because mom said something about the numbers being off with what’s been coming in and what’s been going out. Only another Scribe like mom would be able to do something about that.”
He started to walk out of the mess hall and I followed him, “Well if you are right about this then we should go investigate, shouldn’t we?”
“That’s right Elder, I have three ponies in mind that I think could have done it too!”
“Do you really, you’ve been a busy little filly haven’t you?”
“I don’t get out much, since my room is right next to the Scribes rooms, I hear a lot of what they talk about during the day. There are three ponies who are always talking about how unfair things are around here. I think it’s one of them, because I know they said something about doing something to get even.” I said as he led us to the area of the bunker that the Scribes used.
“Morning to start our investigation I think we should start by getting some evidence, now which Scribes did you over hear.” The Elder asked.
“Junior Scribe Butternut, Scribe Basil, and Senior Scribe Tallow, I’ve over heard them at least three times now talking about stuff.”
“And who do you think is most likely the culprit?” he asked me.
I took a moment to think, “My best…Deduction…is Tallow, he was the one making the most noise when he was complaining just the other day.”
“Then let’s start with his room.” He said walking off toward one of the doors that lead into a privet room, “You do know that this is a very serious accusation, he won’t be happy if you’re wrong.”
I chuckled lightly, “He can be mad all he wants, that’s why I have you to watch my back Elder. You’re my deputy.”
He laughed heartily, “Oh your deputy huh, well Detective Morning Star, since you’re so sure, how about you knock on the door and interrogate him? I’ll just wait right here and keep an eye on things.”
“Yes sir,” I said bringing my hoof up to knock on the door.
A moment later another tall stallion opened it and looked down at me, his face looking irritated for me interrupting him, “What do you want kid?”
“I’m requesting entrance to your room Senior Scribe Tallow. I’m investigating stolen tech, we have reason to believe you know something about it,” I said puffing my chest out and trying to look tough.
“Piss off kid, I don’t have time to play games with you, I have plenty of other things to deal with today,” he said moving to shut the door, but I stepped in.
“Tallow, you will let me look through your room, if you do I can rule you out as a suspect!”
“I said piss off before I go find your mother and have her make you leave.”
It was right then that the Elder came into view saying, “Now Tallow I’m sure you can help this little filly out, all she wants to do is rule you out as a suspect. Unless you have something to hide from our bunkers best detective.”
“Elder Apple Jam, I didn’t see you there. I’m sorry but I don’t have the time to be playing games with her, I have too much work to do,” he said giving a slight bow.
“This won’t take more than a minute. I’m sure you can take a couple minutes out of your busy day to humor her, and if not her then me,” he said giving the Scribe a look.
He bowed again glaring over at me, “Yes Elder, but I’m not sure why you care about what this filly has to say.”
“I care because she’s a smart little filly and I trust her judgment. If you have nothing to hide then you shouldn’t care one bit about her looking through your room,” he said then he turned to me, “Go ahead Morning, I’ll wait out here with the Suspect.”
I beamed and pushed past the other stallion and started to look through his stuff, his room wasn’t large he only had a few things in it. A couple of hoof lockers, a desk with a terminal, and a bed. I started to look through one of the hoof lockers, only finding a couple of odds and ends, same for the other one. I checked under his bed, as I did I could hear the Scribe talking to the Elder.
“You really shouldn’t let her go around doing things like this. Isn’t she that filly who’s always sick in the Infirmary?”
“She is, and I’ll do whatever I want to do in my own bunker Tallow. She came to me with information from Vervain about missing tech and she thinks she knows who took it. She could be wrong, but I’ve learned over the years to not take anything lightly.”
I was about to give up and say this was a bust when I thought about something. If I wanted to hide something from mom, I’d put it under my matrass, she always forgets to look there. I moved over to the bed again and pressed a hoof under the matrass I dug around until I felt something and I pulled it out. It was a little black book. I grinned wide and brought it over to the Elder and Tallow, “What is this and why were you hiding it under your matrass?”
He tried to take it from me but the Elder was faster, he took it from me with his muzzle then using his hooves he opened it and started to look at the pages. The Scribe looked worried, “That’s nothing Elder Apple Jam, just notes I’m keeping on some of my research.”
As the Elder was looking at the book another Scribe came running up to him, she was one of the younger Junior Scribes that helped my nurse from time to time, her name was Hazel, she was panting when she reached us saying, “There you are Elder, somepony told me that they saw Morning Star with you, I’ve been looking for her all day.”
He looked up from the book and said, “It’s okay Junior Scribe Hazel, Morning Star has been helping me with a little project,” then his gaze fell on the other Scribe, “I want to speak to you in my office Tallow, from what I’m reading here you have some explaining to do.”
He looked angry, “For what? I didn’t do anything wrong, that book isn’t shit. I bet her mother Grim told her to plant that in my room.”
“You just said it was yours Tallow, don’t you dare go blaming Morning Star or her mother for your indiscretions, my office NOW!” he said his hard glare never leaving the other stallions.
He hung his head, “Yes Elder right away.”
When he started walking off he looked back at me and asked, “How did you know he was the one Morning?”
“He seemed the guiltiest, like I said, he was always complaining about you and the way things are being done here. I just went with my gut.”
He smiled at me, “Well you did a good job Morning Star, I’ll be sure to let Grim know how much of a help you were to me today. You should go with Hazel, I’m sure you’ve had enough adventure for one day.”
I did feel like I was getting weak and my heart was pumping faster, so I nodded and beamed up at him, “Thanks for playing with me Elder, I had a lot of fun.”
“So did I, now off to bed with you, I expect I’ll be busy for a while now. Good job Detective, it was an honor serving as your deputy,” he gave me a wink and a smile as he walked off telling two Knights to follow him as he went back toward his office.
Hazel smiled, “The Elder sure likes you Morning Star. Now let’s get you back to bed, Vervain or your mother will be cross with me if they found out I let you wander off while I was keeping an eye on you.”
“I’m sorry Hazel I don’t want to get you into trouble, I was just tired of laying around all the time.”
She smiled at me, “It’s okay Kiddo, I remember what it was like when I was your age…”
The memory faded away…only to be replaced by another…
oooOOOooo
“Morning Star are you paying attention?” Mom asked.
I looked back at her and away from the other fillies and colts that were playing just outside our room in the Steel Rangers bunker, “Yeah.”
Mom gave me a hard look then smiled, “No you weren’t. You were watching the other kids playing, weren’t you?”
I nodded, “I don’t understand why I can’t play with them. They look like they are having a lot of fun,” there weren’t very many kids in the Bunker, most of them were a few years older than I was, but they all seemed to be having so much fun.
“You know why Morning, you get sick too easily and you can’t overexert yourself, you remember what happened last time I let you go play with the other kids.”
I did remember, I had a major episode as mom called it and I couldn’t get out of bed for over a week. I knew why I couldn’t play with them, but that didn’t stop me from asking every other day. Mom had the spell to keep me healthy, why couldn’t she just use it before I went to play so I could have fun for once? I groaned and laid my head down on the small desk I was sitting at while mom tried to teach me, “I know, I just don’t like it.”
She smiled and came over kissing the top of my head, “I know sweetie, but I promise soon that you’ll be able to play with the other kids.”
I looked up hopefully, “Did you find something finally that can fix me?”
She brought up her silver Pip-Buck looking through some of her notes, “I think I have, we’ll be making a trip really soon to meet up with Vervain.”
“Yay, I haven’t seen her in forever!” I said jumping off my seat, “When are we leaving?”
“Slow down Morning, don’t overdo it,” she said, her horn glowing as she used her magic to pick me up and place me back in my seat, “For Celestia’s sake you already look worn out.”
My heart was beating faster than normal, and I did feel weak, but I didn’t like mom worrying too much, “I’ll be okay, cross my heart.”
She laughed, “I really wish you wouldn’t use that particular metaphor. I’ve learned over the years how to tell when you’re getting sick again. If you don’t stay calm I’m going to have to put you on bed rest again.”
I slunk down in my chair, “Fine, I’ll be good.”
She laughed again, “You always say that.”
There was a knock at our door then Elder Apple Jam walked in, “Senor Scribe Grimoire, may I have a word with you please?”
Mother bowed a little, “Elder what a surprise, what do I owe the honor?”
He smiled, “I heard a rumor that you were going to be heading out tomorrow, is this true?”
She nodded, “Yes, I obtained more information on the Project I was looking into, I think I finally found what I needed to save my daughter.”
His eyes got wide, “Did you really, that’s great news. May I ask where you’ll be heading off to?”
“It’s a lab that I believe is hidden under one of the M.A.S.E.B.S. Towers outside of the trading town of Cartwheel.”
“That’s perfect.”
She looked at him confused, “Why do you say that?”
“Because I have a new mission for you and it just so happens to be by where you’re going.”
“What do you need me to do Elder? Remember you said that I could always put my daughter’s health first,” Mom said looking back at me.
“I did and I still will, you go and find this project. Afterwards I want you to go to Stable 28 with Paladin Vervain. She’s been having trouble with the ponies there, they still don’t seem to trust her.”
Mom scratched the back of her head, “That makes sense, Stable ponies don’t trust outsiders very much. I’m shocked she was able to talk her way into the Stable in the first place. How will I be able to help?”
He chuckled again, “Easy, I want you to find a way in and start modifying the memories of all the ponies there.”
“You want me to do WHAT!?” mom said with a look of shock on her face, “Modify the memories of at least five hundred ponies? Wouldn’t that take months? Not to mention the inconsistencies I’d have to deal with as I’m working on the ponies there. Also how do you plan on me getting in there, I’m a unicorn? That Stable is an earth pony only stable.”
“Grim, I know you’ll figure out a way to make it work, you always do. At the very least we need to make sure ponies don’t try and kick her out. She’s been learning a lot about that Stable over the last few weeks and I want more information.”
“What about Morning? I can’t just be away for that long.”
“I was planning on you bringing her with you, I’m guessing you wanted her to travel with you for this other mission of yours. Just keep her with you when you go into the stable. Who knows it might help you get in,” he said still smiling, “Grim, I put a lot of trust in you and you know that. I have the upmost faith that you’ll be able to make this work.”
I kept watching as mom looked down at her hooves, “If I can get in and Morning is better, then I’ll do my best to make this plan work Elder, but I can’t promise that I’ll be able to modify that many memories. I’m good at memory spells, but I’m not sure I’m that good.”
He put a hoof on her shoulder and patted it slowly, “If you can’t then we’ll have to go to plan B, but I hope you can,” he moved closer and said in a quieter voice, “I’ve been getting reports about a pony from Stratus looking for you and Morning Star.”
She pulled away then looked back at me then at him again, “You don’t think it’s…”
He nodded, “I heard the description from an old friend in the Talons, it’s him. I know you put a lot of trust in me when you told me about your past Grim, this is me showing you how much I trust you. You’ve been a loyal member to my branch of the Steel Rangers for years, this is my way of paying you back for everything you’ve done. Use this as a way to hide from him for now, Stable 28’s location isn’t known to very many and it’s a better place to hide than this old bunker.”
“I suppose it’s a good idea, and maybe Morning will be able to find friends her own age in the Stable. We could start a better life there at least for a while.”
“Mom, what are you talking about?” I asked, getting a little confused by the older pony’s words.
She smiled back at me, “It’s nothing sweetie, Elder Apple Jam is just giving me details on my next mission, one you get to join me on.”
“Yes, little one, you’ll be going to a place where you might meet ponies your own age,” The Elder said.
“But what about you Elder, are you coming with us?”
He shook his head, “I have my own job to do here at the bunker.”
“But when will I see you again?” I asked, I love the Elder almost as much as I did my own father, he was so kind and wise.
He walked around mom and rubbed my mane, “Don’t you worry, we’ll see each other again one day, you have my word.”
I moved forward and hugged him tight, “I’m gonna miss you Elder Apple Jam.”
He wrapped his forelegs around me saying, “I’ll miss you too, it’s going to be a lot quieter around here with you gone. I’ll have to find a new way to escape my daily duties for a while.”
I pulled away and stood up as tall as I could on my chair, “Just remember not to overdo it, you’re getting old Elder.”
He barked a laugh, “Hahaha, I was old before you were even born, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
Mom walked over and asked, “I’m assuming you want me to leave right away?”
“Take a couple hours to get you’re things ready but yes, you’ll be leaving tonight,” he said turning to leave.
“Yes sir, I’ll be ready to go soon.”
He turned and smiled once more at me, “Remember what I always tell you Morning Star.”
I beamed at him, “Always keep your head held high, and never show your enemy your back!”
“That’s a Good girl,” he said then left the room as I yelled, “Ad Victorium!”
When he was gone mom moved to shut the door, “Morning, we’ll be leaving soon, I want you to take a nap while I get things ready.”
“Aww do I have to?”
“Yes, you do, this is going to be a long trip and I need you to get as much rest as you can,” she said picking me up in her magic and moving me over to the small bed that was next to hers.
I yawned and nodded, “Okay.”
“Good girl, mommy will just be doing some work while you sleep.”
I closed my eyes as mom went around the room to pack our things. Ten minutes later when she thought I was sleeping, she moved over to her desk. She looked back at me, but didn’t notice I was still awake. I just had my eyes cracked open. She started to do something with her Silver Pip-Buck then a moment later a Stallions voice came out of it.
“Grimoire is that you?” the stallion said, he had a hard and commanding voice.
“Yes, Elder Wolfsbane, I have an update for you.”
“I was wondering when you were going to contact me again, it’s been weeks since your last report,” he said.
“I’ll be leaving for Cartwheel tonight with Morning Star to look into that Project you found files on. I think I located it just outside the town.”
“Hmmm, Cartwheel huh? Now there’s a town I wouldn’t want to visit any time soon myself.”
“Why’s that sir?” Mom asked.
“It’s a long story, don’t worry too much about it. What do you plan on doing once you’re in Cartwheel?”
“I’ll be heading to the lab that should hold the project itself, if everything works I’ll be able to save my daughter. If that works the way I think it should, we should be able to use the project for what you want it for.”
The other elder took a minute to respond, “What if this is another dead end like the last three times you said you found a project that you could use?”
“It’s not, I’ve found memory orbs of one of the Children of the Night, it shows the project and I saw the data they used when they built it. This is real, I know it.”
“I hope you’re right, but if that’s all you have why did you bother me with this, you could’ve easily given me a written report on the whole thing once you were out of Hidden Sands.”
Mom sighed, “I know, but that’s not the only reason I’m contacting you. I’ve been given a new mission, I’ll be going into a Stable to help Vervain.”
“For how long?”
“I’m not sure yet, but it could be a year or two, it all depends on what we find while we’re in there. I wanted you to know before I head out just in case I can’t get a message to you once I’m inside.”
Another pause then he said, “It can’t be helped, just make sure you do whatever you can to keep me updated on the Project once you find out more. I’ll be sure to update Crackerjack on the details as well later, he’ll keep an eye on Elder Apple Jam while you’re away.”
Mom tensed up, “He’s a good pony Sir, I don’t think we have to worry about him.”
“He’s a fool, honestly if it wasn’t for your persistence I would’ve had Crackerjack take care of him a long time ago. I’m warning you Grim, if he proves to be a problem, he’ll be taken out. His daughter has a better head on her shoulders and would be more willing to listen to what I have to say more than that old fart.”
“I understand Sir,”
“Grim, what will you be doing with your daughter while you’re in the Stable?” he asked.
“She’s coming with me sir, I can’t be away from her for that long.”
“What if this project works though?”
“I still won’t let her out of my sight, I’ve done all of this to save her.”
“You remember our deal Grim, once she’s healthy she’s supposed to come to Los Alicorn to become one of our Scribes, that’s if she really is as talented with magic as you,” he said.
“I remember sir, but she stays with me until I know she’s going to be okay, after that, then we can talk about her going to Los Alicorn.”
“Good, now you should finish up with what you’re doing, I expect to hear back from you in two weeks.”
“Yes sir, Grimoire out,” she said, hitting a button on the side of her Pip-Buck to end the transmission. When she did she leaned back in her chair and sighed then said, “I hope this is all worth it. Goddesses what did I do to get myself into this mess?”
When she turned to check on me again, I made sure to close my eyes, not wanting her to know I heard everything she said. But I couldn’t hide the tears as they ran down my face and into my pillow…
oooOOOooo
I could feel another memory starting to replace the last one, but as it came closer and the images started to form, I felt my mind being pulled away from it again as if somepony was trying to keep me from seeing my past. I tried to pull away, I wasn’t going to let anypony stop me from finally finding out who I was. I’ve wanted to know more about myself since I first woke up in the Stable, this was my chance to finally know.
There was another tug on my mind and I was thrust down and soon I found myself in a room. It wasn’t anything special, just a room with white walls and nothing else in it. I knew that this wasn’t a memory, I was myself again, not the small sick filly I’d been only moments ago as I relived some of my past. It was then that I noticed another pony in the room…it was mom.
I backed away saying, “What are you doing here?”
She looked younger, almost exactly how she had when she lived in the Stable. She smiled at me, not a cruel smile like when I last saw her, but a kind one, “It’s about time you broke through that barrier Shadow,”
I looked at her confused, “What do you mean?”
“You look confused sweetie, are you okay?” she asked taking a step toward me, but I backed against the wall wishing I had some kind of weapon on me.
“I’m fine, why are you here…where are we anyway?” I asked trying to figure out what was up with this creepy white room.
She laughed gently, “This is just a small space in your mind Shadow.”
“My mind? Are you Aquila trying to play tricks on me again? If you are, I’m not falling for it,” I said.
“No, I’m not that…thing, I’m your mother…well a part of her magic at least. I left a small bit of my power within you just in case you ever needed me or if you broke through the magic I used to block away your memories. Why are you backing against the wall like that?”
“Because the last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me. I’ll have you know that I really don’t appreciate it either.”
She got a far away look for a moment then said, “Why would I do that?”
“I dunno, but you didn’t know who I was, you wanted my Pip-Buck and you were gonna kill me to get it. You turned into a bitch with age.”
“Watch your language young lady and I have no memory of that ever happening, but that’s not surprising. It’s been a long time since I left this echo of myself inside your head. If it makes you feel better, I’m not really Grim, and I won’t hurt you.”
I relaxed a little, then asked, “So you aren’t real?”
“I’m real, but I’m also not real.”
“That makes no sense.”
She frowned then took a minute to think, finally she perked up and said, “Think of it like this, when your mother, the REAL Grim left the Stable, she made sure to reseal the spell blocking your memory. When she did, she left a small piece of herself in you, that piece is me. I’m still your mom, but I’m not the body or soul of your mom, just an echo of her personality and magic.”
“Okay, that I can understand, but why are you showing up now?” I asked finally moving closer to her. When I did the room changed and I found myself in Stable 28’s atrium, “Damn Aquila was right, I always seem to find myself back in this fucking place. Right language sorry.”
She laughed a little, sitting down at one of the tables, “That means you felt safe when you were here, even if you didn’t like it very much. Come sit with me so we can talk, I don’t have much time before the spell that crated me fades away, and I have a few things to talk to you about.”
I just looked at her and asked, “What has you so happy?”
“I just can’t believe how much you’ve grown since I last saw you.”
“I wouldn’t say I grew that much, I’m still a shrimp.”
She laughed again, “There’s nothing wrong with being short Shadow, my mother wasn’t much taller than you.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Yeah, yeah.”
She laughed once more “Oh my dear Shadow, you are still so difficult.” mom laughed a little harder.
“Anyways you said you had something to talk to me about?” I said trying to go back to the previous conversation
“Oh yes, well I’m sure you know by now that I was the one who blocked your memories once we got to Stable 28.”
“Yeah, I found that out a couple weeks back.”
“Well, I did that because of what happened to you after you merged with Aquila. The first two nights you were in the stable, you kept having nightmares and when you did, you would give off extremely powerful bursts of magic. It almost got us kicked out of the Stable. I had to get rid of those memories just so you could sleep, but not matter how hard I tried, you kept having dreams and problems with your magic. In the end I blocked everything from you and made up a lie saying you got hurt. I did all this just to keep your mind intact,” she said leaning her head on her hooves.
“I figured that just by what I learned already, but I don’t understand what the point of all of it was. How does making me forget who I was stop the power from flowing out of me like it was?”
“Aquila was still weak from using her magic to keep you alive, she cured the curse that was around your heart and it almost killed her. I tried to cage her away a couple times, but she was using your memories to hide herself from my magic and she was pulling on your own magic to get stronger. Finally, I had to get rid of them all and put up a barrier around your mind to keep her out of your memories. With nowhere to hide in your head, she was easier to find and cage. It was the only way I could protect you at the time, back then I still didn’t know what she was or why she was in your head. Even when I had to leave the Stable I still didn’t understand her fully.”
“I guess I can understand that too. Why didn’t you just remove her from my body once you had her caged up?”
She sighed, “Because I didn’t know what she was or how her power worked, if I did something wrong, you could’ve died. I wasn’t going to risk that, not after I finally had you healthy.”
“So, you caged her away instead hoping that one day I’d be strong enough to fight her off.”
“Not really, I wanted her caged until you got out of the Stable and came to find me, I was hoping by then I would’ve learned everything I needed about her and what she is so I could remove her myself. The problem is from what I can tell, you let her out of her cage,” she said sadly.
“I don’t remember ever doing that.”
“The only way she could’ve gotten free was if you accepted her help with something. Over the years she would’ve been able to weaken the cage enough to talk with you sometimes. If I know that bitch like I do, she probably offered to help you stop the flow of memories you should have started getting back when you found the Mark II,” Mom said.
I looked at her shocked, “That IS what happened, she said she could make the pain in my head go away and I said yes.”
“That’s what I thought, it would explain why the magic was shattered by you and not the protection spell I put on the Pip-Buck. Damn I knew I should’ve left you some kind of clue about that when I left, but I didn’t have much time,” she said.
“It’s not that bad really, I agree that she can be a bitch, but she did save my life more than once.”
“I’m sure she did, she needs you alive to keep herself alive at least until she can take over your body for herself. One thing I do know about her, is that she’s a parasite, she can’t live without a host.”
“She’s said as much to me before, but what does all this have to do with you showing up like this?” I asked.
“Like I said, I set up this spell in case you ever broke the memory spell yourself and if Aquila was out of her cage. I’m here to make sure she can’t take you over for a while.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
“When we’re done talking this echo of me is going to re-cage her. It won’t last forever, not with how strong she was able to get ever since you left the Stable, but I can keep her at bay for a little while, giving you time to figure out a way to remove her yourself.”
I groaned, “I don’t see that happening, she’s too strong.”
“Shadow, that sounds like a pony who’s given up all hope.”
“Because I have, the only reason I broke through the memory spell was because I was able to take back some of the magic she stole and keep it away from her, its only a matter of time before she finds a new way to get what she wants.”
“I have faith that you’ll figure out a way to fix this,”
“And what if I can’t?”
Mom’s face fell, “Then there’ll only be one choice left to you, you’ll have to kill her, by killing yourself. As much as I hate to say it, that’s the only way I can think of that’ll put an end to her for good.”
My eyes fell, “I’ve already thought about that, but I really don’t wanna have to die just to stop her, there has to be another way.”
“The only other thing I could see working, is if you found a Zebra who knows how to make a protection ward talisman. I may not know what she is, but I know that the magic I used to cage her was close to what a talisman like that would do.”
“I used to have one, but I lost it a few days ago when I was fighting Pride.”
She looked shocked, “Pride? You met The Seven Sins of Equinity?”
“I did, and I fought them a few times too. I killed Pride just last week.”
“How did you do that? You say it like it was just another trip to the grocery store,” she asked, the shock never leaving her face.
“It’s a long story and like you said we don’t have time…was he really my uncle? From what I saw in a couple of memories it seemed like he was the one who cursed me.”
She looked sad again, “I don’t have the ability to talk about those days, it would have been too long and I probably wouldn’t have finished it by the time this magic fades, but I can tell you that he is my brother…or was.”
Great so I killed my own uncle, I wish I could feel bad about that, but I couldn’t. Whoever Pride was before, he was a monster when he died, “I wish you could tell me more about him.”
“I do too, but if you want those answers you’ll have to ask the real me, this echo can’t answer those kinds of questions.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised, that’s how things seem to go for me out here,” I sighed, “I can’t even ask you in person, because you’ve gone completely nuts.”
“You said something about that before, you said I didn’t remember you?”
“Yeah, I tried to tell you who I was, but you just got mad and told me I died ten years ago.”
The echo of mom looked thoughtful again, “Somepony must’ve wiped my memories of what happened and replaced them.”
“If I run into you again, I’ll have to kill you. I can’t see any other way of helping you.”
“If my memory in the present was messed with, it can be reversed. You’ll just need to find somepony to teach you memory magic. If you learn some of the spells you could fix the damage that was done.”
I looked at her hopefully, “Do you mean it?”
She laughed, “Shadow, my special talent with magic is all about memory magic, if anypony knows how to work around memories it’s me. The Spells you’d have to learn aren’t hard either. So, don’t give up hope so quickly.”
I couldn’t help but smile a little, “I can at least say I’ll try.”
“That’s my Little Star, now I should finish this up, I don’t have much power in me, and if I wait too long I won’t be able to cage Aquila again.”
“Do you have to go so soon? I have so many more questions I need to ask you,” I said reaching out to put a hoof on hers.
She smiled and said, “I wish I could stay forever, but I’m not really your mom, just a spell that looks like her. Don’t give up hope on helping the real me, deep down she still knows who you are. All you need to do is help her get that memory back.”
As she spoke a small ball of black light appeared on the table in front of us, in the middle of it there was a small speck of white, “What’s that?”
“This is Aquila, she doesn’t have a true body or form, she’s just energy right now, and not much of it at the moment. Whatever happened to her and you, it did a lot of damage.”
“I kinda feel sorry for her, I think the only reason she’s so evil is because she’s tired of being trapped.”
“I’m sure she is, but sorry or not, she’s a threat to The Wasteland and to you,” Mom said, her form starting to glow. She pulled the ball of light into herself her smile getting bigger.
“What do I do now Mom?”
She smiled, “You do what you need to, worry about yourself first and me second. I’ll keep her at bay for as long as I can, she may still be able to break through now and then to talk to you, but she can’t take over your mind. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but I’m hoping I can buy you at least a few weeks to figure something out.”
Her form was starting to fade along with the ball of light that was Aquila, so I said, “I love you Mom!”
She smiled wider a tear in her eyes, “I love you too. Also, one last thing before I go, when this spell is complete it’ll fix some of the damage you did to the memory spell, but don’t worry, you’ll be able to start remembering things about yourself a lot easier now. Good Luck my Little Star, remember to shine brighter than everypony else…”
She disappeared the last thing I saw on her face was a smile, she looked so proud of me. I smiled back then sighed, “I guess it’s time to get back to my friends…”
oooOOOooo
I opened my eyes slowly, I looked around wondering for a moment where I was. Then I noticed that I was laying on one of Javelin’s couches, “Aura? Stranger?”
I heard someone moving off the other couch. Aura’s face appeared over me, “Well at least you weren’t out as long as you normally are. How ya feeling Shrimp?”
I sat up looking around, “I feel…good actually. How long have I been out?”
“Maybe a half hour or so, you scared the shit out of The Stranger when you blasted the ceiling then passed out. I wasn’t worried though, I’m getting used to you passing out like that,” she said sitting on the couch next to me.
“Where did he go?” I asked noticing that The Stranger wasn’t here anymore, same for Wind Thrasher and Wingnut.
“He had to get back, he said he was away for too long as it was. I told him you’d be fine and not to worry about you too much.”
“That’s too bad, I wanted to ask him a little more before he had to leave.”
Aura sighed, “I know, but he’s living a double life. He can’t spend too much time down here without somepony noticing he’s gone. I think he would’ve stuck around to make sure you were okay, but he got some kind of transmission. He left in a hurry.”
I looked over at her, “What kind of transmission?”
“Something’s happening above the clouds, though I’m not sure what. That’s all he would tell me before he left.”
“Any idea what it could be?”
“No idea, we talons tend to stay out of Enclave affairs,” she said yawning.
“I remember reading that on the rules of The Red Talons.”
She nodded, “The Red Talons have their own problems with The Enclave, but I do know that most every talon company hates working with them. Personally I think they’re probably just really shitty bosses.”
I sighed, “I never got a chance to ask any of the Red Talons, but why do they hate the Enclave so much? What happened at Griffonstone that would piss off Greta so much that she made a rule about working with them?”
“I don’t know all the details personally, but I do know that a few years after the war, The Enclave started moving in on Griffon owned skies. That pony Night Stalker lead an attack on Griffonstone itself, from what I know, he made it uninhabitable and the remaining griffons had to find homes in Equestria. That’s about the time Talon companies started up. The Red Talons were the first. Whatever Night Stalker did, it pissed Greta off, because it was after the attack on Griffonstone that she left to form The Red Talons.”
“Damn, it had to be bad if Greta left Night Stalkers side like that. From what I’ve seen, those two were very close,” I said leaning back and looking up at the ceiling.
She smiled, “I don’t know about that, Greta is honored in The Red Talons, but she’s also hated. We love her because of what she built and the traditions she started, but in the end, she betrayed her own kind.”
I frowned, “How’d she do that?”
“No Griffon knows what she did, only Tonto knows. All we’re told is that she broke one of her own rules and left the Talons in the end, leaving her son to take over as the new leader,” Aura said simply.
“So even Greta couldn’t hold up to her own rules huh?”
She laughed, “No she couldn’t, but if I take after her in any way, then I’m not surprised.”
“You do kind of remind me of her in a way, you look different, but your personalities are the same,” I said snickering a little.
“You’re going to make me sick, stop comparing me to family,” she said, but I could tell she was joking, “All joking aside, I know what you mean, mom used to say that too. We have a recollecter in Crimson Canyon and she’s viewed a couple of the memory orbs we have of Greta.”
“I wonder if Gigi would ever let me look at them?”
“It’s not up to her, Tonto is the one who you’d have to ask. I don’t see why he’d mind, he would probably like you,” she said.
“I was hoping I could meet with him as soon as I was done with finding Stardust.”
“Well if we end up having to go back to Crimson Canyon I’ll introduce you.”
I laughed again, “I look forward to it. By the way, where are Wind Thrasher and Wingnut?”
“They’re just outside, they wanted fresh air after being cooped up in here for so long. They were just waiting for you to wake up, Javelin stopped in too. She wanted to know if you were interested in meeting the rest of the leaders around here when you woke up.”
I took a minute to think about it, “I guess it couldn’t hurt, I’d like to learn more about The Annihilators.”
“Yeah, same for me,” she said thinking for a moment finally she asked, “What happened to you anyway? I mean one minute the bitch was back, then everything started to go to shit, then you took over again and starting screaming bloody murder and passed out.”
“Long story short, Aquila tricked me into stepping onto that platform. I guess she is able to borrow power from things like megaspells. That platform was connected to the megaspell chambers and she took as much power as she could and used it to destroy the curse Pride used on her, then she still had enough power to take over my mind. All I did was reach out and take the power away from her while she was distracted by you and The Stranger. Problem was, I can’t handle that much magic and it messed me up a little. On the plus side with so much magic pulsing through me without Aquila to help control it, I was able to break down some of the barrier that was blocking my memories.”
She looked surprised, “You mean, you remember everything about your past now?”
I blushed a little, “Well not everything, but I’m starting to. I ran into something inside my head that was a spell of mom’s. She explained that it would take time for me to remember everything, but over time I’ll get all my memories back.”
She looked confused, “You mean your mom left something of herself inside of you? That’s a little weird.”
“She did it to protect me from Aquila if she got too strong and if the magic blocking my memory was broken by another. The echo of her that I saw was able to cage Aquila for a time. That way I’ll have some time to find some way of ridding myself of her or at the very least find a way to block her for good,” I replied.
“So, we won’t have to worry about her?”
“Not for a while, at least. It’ll make things a lot easier while we find a way to get Stardust back to normal. If I’m lucky I might be able to find a way to help mom too.”
She frowned, “I thought you said we’d have to kill her?”
“We might have to, but I’m hoping that whatever happened to her, that it can be fixed. I don’t know what it was, either Pride modified her memories or something else happened to make her forget me, but if I can get my memories back, then so can she.”
“Well I won’t argue with you, but I’m still down for killing her, she’s not a good pony Shadow.”
“You’re only saying that because of how you feel about your own mom.”
“No, I really mean it Shadow, she’s not a good pony, not anymore. Even if you do fix what happened to her, do you really think she’ll just magically be the mother you used to know?”
I shrugged, “No, but I have to give her the chance to explain herself. Sometimes moms do things for their children that they can’t understand.”
She looked over at me, “Not my mother, she’s too busy being the high and mighty leader of The Red Talons to care one bit about her own kids.”
“Are you really sure about that?”
“Shadow I’ve known my mother a lot longer than you, yeah I’m sure. Sometimes I wish she wasn’t the leader just to see if she’d be different, but I know I’m just fooling myself.”
I looked away and kept my muzzle shut, I couldn’t just outright tell Aura the truth about Gigi. I wanted to, but I gave my word that I wouldn’t unless she asked me about it. When some time passed I finally asked Aura, “Can we talk about what we were talking about before Stardust attacked?”
Her eyes fell and she looked down at her Talons, “Shadow, I’m not sure I can talk about this. I keep trying but every time I get close I seem to choke and I can’t get the words past my beak.”
“Aura, I think I know what’s on your mind if you can’t seem to find the words to say it yet, then that’s fine.”
Her eyes darted to me and she said, “I don’t think you know what I’m thinking Shadow.”
I smiled and looked back her, my red eyes meeting her blue ones, “You’re wrong Aura, I’ve been watching you and I’ve gotten used to how you think. I’m sure I know what’s bothering you, but like I said, I’m willing to wait for you to be ready. I’ll let you set the pace and I know that one day you’ll tell me.”
“The problem is what if I wait too long, what if something happens and I never have the chance to tell you?”
“Let’s just make sure that doesn’t happen, and even if it does then there’s nothing we can do about it.”
She looked away, “You mean a lot to me Shadow, no matter what happens I want you to know that. It’s just that with everything that’s happened I feel like it’s not right for me to say what I want to, it’s selfish.”
“It’s not selfish, it’s okay to have feelings Aura. This world is so hard and short, don’t hide away your feelings when you don’t have to.”
She smiled, “I’ll try my best Shadow, I mean that.”
“That’s all I care about, and I’ll tell you this. You mean a lot to me too Aura, I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without you or any of my friends,” I said.
She was blushing now, “I needed to hear that, thank you for talking to me.”
“I’m always here for you Aura”
“Likewise Shadow.”
The door to the office burst open and I heard Wingnut say, “When did Shadow wake up? Aura I told you to tell me when she woke up.”
Normally I’d be pissed that the little shit walked in on our conversation, but for once I think that Aura and I were able to say what we wanted to say. Aura’s feelings for me were more than just what two friends shared, I could see it now, but I wasn’t going to push her. She was finally getting over the loss of Trip Wire and I had to leave it up to her to figure out how she truly felt. As for me, I could feel something for Aura, but I wasn’t sure what they were yet. It was different than with Silver, but I’d known Aura longer. Silver and I never had the chance to get to know each other like I knew Aura. I did love Silver, but we only had a physical relationship with a little emotion just starting to sprout, if she hadn’t died we could’ve had the time to explore those feelings. The thought of Silver dying hurt still, but I knew now that she died for me. It wasn’t the same as how Aura lost Trip Wire. It was easier for me to accept than it was for her. So I’d give her the time she needed and hope that she was able to get her mind straight, before The Wasteland caught up with us, because it always did.
I looked back at Wingnut and smiled, “I just woke up, she was just about to go get you.”
“That’s right Boss, I was just explaining to her what happened,” Aura said.
“Good, because I want to know what we’re doing next, Wind Thrasher is reading another book and she keeps talking to it like the Characters can hear her and it’s really starting to get on my nerves,” Wingnut said wrinkling his face, “Girls are so weird.”
Wind Thrasher walked in behind him and swatted him in the back of the head, “We aren’t weird, you’re just too young to understand grown up things like that.”
He rubbed the back of his head, “Hey that hurt, I thought you were the pony who didn’t like to hurt ponies.”
She grinned at him evilly, “Oh I don’t mind hurting ponies I just don’t like to kill. Keep making fun of the books I like and I can scar you for life.”
He stuck his tongue out at her, “Yeah right, you can’t do that, I’ve seen some things.”
“Oh really,” she pulled out one of her books and opened it reading, “Ruby laid herself down on the bed, her breath coming out quick and hard as the stallion she loved moved down over her, kissing her down her neck. It was a feeling she hadn’t ever experienced before; her eyes couldn’t get enough of his lean body and…”
“AHHHHH, SHADOW MAKE HER STOP!!!” Wingnut said running to hide from her.
All three of us started to laugh as the colt glared over at us, as I moved over to him pull him into a hug, “Don’t worry kiddo, I’ll protect you from the big bad bat pony.”
He pushed me away, “Ewww, stop being so girly…all of YOU!”
“Maybe you’ll understand a mare’s feelings the more you hang around with us and find a nice mare for yourself.” I chuckled a bit sensing Wingnut’s uncomfortableness.
“Ugh” Wingnut groaned in disgust and just submitted to the hug
I let him go then looked up at my friends, it was nice to see these ponies here. Laughing with me and enjoying the small time we had to just enjoy ourselves. It was so different from when I was in the Stable, no pony cared I was a unicorn, or what color my coat was, they didn’t see me as the short mare, or a pony who fucked up more than once. To them I was just Shadow Star, their friend, a pony they all loved. I wasn’t sure why, but seeing that brought a few tears to my eyes.
“What’s wrong Shadow?” Wingnut asked, looking up at me, his face growing concerned.
I wiped away the tears and smiled, “I just realized how lucky I am to have all of you as my friends. Even with Stardust going completely insane, and losing Silver, I’m still lucky to have all of you by my side.”
Wind Thrasher’s smile grew bigger as she said, “Shadow, we’re all lucky, without you none of us would know each other. You’re the pony who brought us all together and we’re thankful for that.”
“Yeah what batty said,” Aura said grinning at me.
“Ditto, and I know we’ll get Stardust back soon then all of us can help you get your mom back,” Wingnut added.
I rubbed my eyes again, “Stop it, you’re going to make me cry.”
Aura laughed, “That can’t be helped, you’re a big crybaby as it is Shadow.”
We all laughed again, when it finally died down I said, “Let’s go meet with the other leaders here. I think it’d be nice to have something to do that didn’t have an agenda attached to it.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Aura agreed.
Javelin was waiting just outside the office talking with the mare we saw earlier guarding the gate. As we approached Javelin said, “I see you’re finally up Courier, are you feeling better?”
I nodded, “Better than I have in a while.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she said giving us a small smile, “I think you remember Smokescreen?”
“Yeah, she was the mare who didn’t want to let us in at first,” Aura said.
“I was just following my orders,” she said smirking at Aura, “It’s not often I get to meet a griffon, how’d you end up working with someone like the Courier?”
Aura laughed, “I don’t work for Shadow at least not anymore, I’m the colt’s bodyguard.”
She looked over at him, “Oh is that so?”
He smirked at her, “Yep, she works for me.”
“So are you a Red Talon?” Smokescreen asked Aura.
“No I’m not, I’m a freelancer,” Aura said not alerting more on the subject.
“That’s too bad,” she said.
“Why’s that,” I asked looking at Smokescreen then Javelin.
Javelin was the one to answer, “Smokescreen is my new guard captain, she’s been wanting to set up a contract with The Red Talons, but we don’t see many griffons around here.”
Aura looked at Smokescreen, it was as if she was taking the measure of this mare. I couldn’t help doing the same, she was young probably only a few years older than me much like Wind Thrasher was, she was cute in her own way, with her Smoky grey eyes, her light blue coat that had white on her muzzle and the tips of her ears, and her copper mane. She did have a hard edge to her as well, the fact that she was a unicorn that carried around a battle saddle with a grenade launcher on one side and a missile launcher on the other helped with that I guess. Her cutie mark was black and grey smoke shaped like a wall.
After a minute passed Aura finally asked, “Why would a pony from here want to contract a Red Talon?”
She blushed a little then looked back at Javelin who said, “She’s trying to find a pony she met a couple years back, she’s been begging me to let her in to join us and I finally relented.”
Smokescreen nodded, “Since the ponies who live here can’t leave whenever we want I can’t just go looking for her so I wanted to hire a Red Talon to find her for me.”
Aura grinned, “Finding a pony can get a little costly, it takes a lot of information gathering to get an idea of where they might be and that doesn’t always pan out, unless you know where to start. The Red Talon’s upcharge more for getting locations like that, but if it’s not a pony that’s being hunted because the contractor wants them dead, then the cost can go down some. It’s easier to get a location on a pony who isn’t on the run.”
“You seem to know a lot about what The Red Talons charge for a freelancer,” Javelin said.
“Her mother’s the leader of The Red Talons,” Wingnut said, when Aura glared at him he said, “What? It’s true.”
She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I used to be a Red Talon, my mom is Gigi the leader, that’s how I know how their pricing structure works.”
Smokescreen got a little glint of hope as she said, “Would you be able to ask one of them to come here so I can see about setting up a contract?”
“Possibly, but only if I run into a member or if I see one of my sisters again soon. I’m not allowed in Crimson Canyon unless I’m with my contractor and they have business there.”
“Well if you do please tell them I’d like to speak to one of them. They won’t have to worry about us firing on one of them, the guards here have been told not to attack any griffon who works with The Red Talons already,” Smokescreen said.
“If I may ask, why do you want The Red Talons so bad? Being all the way out here you could contract with one of the smaller groups since this isn’t in The Red Talon’s territory, or even a freelancer like me?” Aura asked.
Javelin chuckled, “She wants a Red Talon because from what we know they’re the best, and The Annihilators will only work with the best.”
“Well, I’ll pass on the message when I can. Do you know anything about this pony that would help them find her if they decide to set up the contract? If so it would help me convince them to make the trip.”
“I know a lot about her, we met once a couple years back and I really liked her. She told me a lot about what she did for work and about the things she traded, I would’ve met with her more, but I got into a lot of trouble for leaving home.”
Aura’s face seemed to go blank for minute as she asked, “What can you tell me about her?”
“She has a grey coat, with a red and blue striped mane, I know she used to live in Freedom with her brother, but I heard later that she moved into a place near Crimson Canyon and started a caravan. Her names Trip Wire,” Smokescreen said.
The look on Aura’s face turned to shock and she was speechless. I could understand why, this must’ve been the mare Trip Wire used to like before she met Aura. Who would’ve known that the same mare had wanted to find her for so long just so she could move into Spitfire’s Flight Academy? Trip Wire must have left quite an impression on this mare for her to want to find her still after so long.
“Um…Aura was it? Are you okay, you look like somepony just slapped you,” Smokescreen said.
Aura seemed to pull herself back together, she looked down and said, “I know Trip Wire very well…”
Smokescreen looked excited as she said, “You do! Can you tell me where she is and why I haven’t heard from her in so long? Did she move away from Freedom or is she just working so much with her caravan that she doesn’t get back this way much?”
Even Javelin looked happy to see the young mare so excited. Aura on the other hoof looked ready to vomit. She looked away from the excited mare and said, “She did start her caravan for a while, I used to be her bodyguard. I worked with her for a long time,” the look on Aura’s face was painful to see and even Smokescreen seemed to notice, because she stopped jumping up and down and her face fell.
“You’re kind of scaring me with that look Aura,” she said.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Trip Wire died seven months ago.”
Smokescreen brought a hoof up to her muzzle and her expression matched Aura’s as she said, “Oh no…I had no idea.”
Aura looked back at her and said, “I wish I could say that her death was fast, but that would be a lie. I was with her in her last moments though, and I made sure she got a proper burial.”
The mare looked sad for a long moment then she asked, “I take it you got to know her well over the past couple of years?”
Aura nodded, “She was a special pony, so kind and caring, always willing to help a pony in need. Yeah I got to know her very well.”
To my surprise Smokescreen smiled, “It’s nice to see she made a good friend out there, when I met her she was so alone with only her older brother around. If you don’t mind me asking and if it’s okay with your contractor would you mind telling me more about her?”
Aura smiled then looked back at us, “Is that okay with all of you?”
Wingnut smiled, “I’ll be fine with Shadow and Wind Thrasher, you go do what you need to Aura.”
She turned back to Smokescreen, “I think talking about her with a mare who knew her would do me a lot of good, if you’re free right now then I’d love to talk about her.”
Smokescreen looked at Javelin who nodded, “You have a few hours before you need to check on the new recruits, go and enjoy yourself for a while.”
With that done the two of them walked off toward one of the guard towers. When they were gone Javelin said, “Well I didn’t expect that to happen, but it’s good to see Smokescreen smile, she doesn’t do that much now days.”
I looked at the leader of The Annihilators and asked, “Why’s that?”
“Growing up here, you tend to find it hard to find a good relationship. Everypony here grows up together almost like family and when ponies get to the age where they want to find somepony to spend their life with, it’s not easy when you see the pony you want to be with almost like a sibling. For Smokescreen it’s even harder, she’s the only mare in this place who likes other mares. It makes for a lonely life,” Javelin said.
I could understand where she was coming from, I had to deal with much of the same thing. The only Stallion who would’ve wanted to be with me in 28 was Balefire and I did see him more like a big brother, it could get awkward sometimes. I smiled and said, “I know that feeling, I’m from a Stable and I know what the growing up with somepony being like family is like, even more what it’s like to like other mares too. In my Stable it was forbidden so I had to keep it secret.”
Javelin chuckled, “It was the same in our Stable too, I was just a filly when we left it, but that tradition stuck when we moved in here. When I took over as the leader of The Annihilators ten years ago I changed that.”
“Why did you do that?” Wind Thrasher asked,
She looked back toward where Smokescreen walked off with Aura saying, “Because I saw how much a stupid rule like that hurt Smokescreen. She’s my granddaughter and I wanted her to be happy. She may not be allowed to leave, but I still want her to be happy, and if that’s with a mare then so be it.”
“Wow I wish my Overmare was that nice,” I said with a smile.
Javelin smiled too, “A leader should always put her ponies first, not her own desires. Yes there are some rules that you have to keep and enforce to keep order, but small things like who you are allowed to love shouldn’t be one of them. Now I’d like you to meet our doctor, I think he’d love to meet you Wind Thrasher.”
She looked at Javelin, a little fear in her eyes, “Why’s that?”
“Oh don’t worry he won’t bite, he’s a nice Stallion. He’ll like to meet you because of what you are. I’ve never seen a pony like you before, and I know he’d love to ask you some questions about how you ended up like that.”
“How do you know she wasn’t born that way?” Wingnut asked.
She laughed, “Oh child, I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve seen things that most ponies would say are impossible. I can tell by looking at Wind Thrasher that she wasn’t born that way. I mean who in Equestria is born a bat pony with dragon eyes and scales?”
He shrugged, “It’s not like it COULDN’T happen, just sayin’.”
“That’s true, but I’m sure somepony had a hoof in turning her into what she is. Now follow me,” she said turning and heading toward a smaller building that had a large red cross on the side.
I snickered at the look on Wind Thrashers face then patted her on the back, “Come on, I don’t think he can be as bad as Dr. Cell.”
She looked at me like I was asking her to fight three hell hounds by herself, “You don’t know that.”
“And neither do you,” I said, and still laughing we all followed her to the clinic.
***
“By Celestia’s holy rump, you mean to tell me that a Scientist in your Stable was able to turn you into this with a couple of potions and little magic, in only a few hours?” Dr. Gauze said as he lifted Wind Thrasher’s leathery wing for what had to be the twentieth time, “That’s just fascinating, who would’ve guessed a pony would’ve figured out the proper way to splice the DNA of another creature with a pony’s like that? Not just one but two, and you’re still alive.”
Wind Thrasher looked like a statue, from what I could tell, she didn’t like being touched by doctors. I could understand why after what she’s gone through in her stable. Her eyes were locked on the far wall and she kept twitching every time he used his magic to poke or prod a different part of her. When he finished talking she said mechanically, “He was one of the best minds with Bio Engineering in many years. He tested on a lot of the animals in our Stable before he did this to me.”
“What Stable are you from again?” the Doctor asked finally dropping her wing then moving around her to open her muzzle for a moment looking at her sharp fangs and teeth, “I’m amazed how healthy you are.”
When he let her mouth go she said, “Stable 9, I was trapped in there for twenty years.”
He looked even more amazed, “You don’t look old enough to have been locked away in a run-down Stable for that long. How old were you when this happened?”
She shrugged, “Very young, mom said I was one of the youngest ponies she’d ever seen get her cutie mark. I was a few years younger than any other pony that had just gotten theirs in the Stable.”
We had been in the clinic for two hours now, the Doctor was asking Wind Thrasher question after question while he examined her. I was surprised at how calm she was able to stay for this long. He looked her over one more time then looked over at me, “You said that her Stable was full of Bloodwings?”
“I think so, from what I read in The Wasteland Survival Guide they sure looked like them, only smaller with a lot more intelligence,” I said, Wingnut was sitting next to me, his eyes drooping, he looked ready to pass out again.
“Bloodwings are a mutated version of the Vampire Fruit Bat, if the ones he made in the stable were the same, he may have just found a better way of making them, a more perfect version than the ones that nature made after the bombs. Is that what he used to make you Wind Thrasher?” he asked.
She nodded, “He already created one Blood Bat before I was hurt. That’s what we called them, I didn’t know they were called Bloodwings until I met Shadow, he also used stored DNA we had in the lab to mix in the Dragon DNA.”
He looked thoughtful, “Do you ever feel the need to feed on Blood like a Bloodwing would?”
She blushed and looked away, “I feel the need now and then, it happens more when I’m stressed out or scared. I’ve gotten good at fighting the need over the years, but I try not to kill, because I’m scared I won’t be able to fight it if I do.”
“That is a concern I can understand, Vampire Fruit Bats from what I’ve read had an unsatisfied urge to eat fruit by sucking the juice right out of them, faster than should be possible. That’s how they got their name, it’s almost an instinct and very hard to stop. I’m amazed you do so well to keep that urge down in yourself. I wonder if there’s a way to get ride of that urge for good.”
Wind Thrashers eyes fell, “Dr. Cell said once my body changed there wasn’t any way to fix what he did or to get rid of my urges.”
Dr. Gauze laughed, “From what you’ve told me about him, he sounded like he was a little cracked. I’m sure if the right pony was to look into your DNA and understand what was done to you, they could fix the urge to drink blood. I’m sure that turning you back into a Pony would be possible too, but I’m not sure, I don’t know everything that was done to you.”
“You mean there might be a way to fix her?” I asked.
“I can’t say for sure, but it’s possible. At the very least I’m sure there’s a way to get ride of that problem with wanting to drink blood, though I’d need a sample of her own blood to know for sure.”
Wind Thrasher looked like she was ready to kiss the older Stallion, “You mean it!?”
“I sure do, it would be a fun challenge. I don’t get much work around here so I find myself with a lot of free time. If you’d be willing to let me have a sample of your blood, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’d be okay with that!” Wind Thrasher said, looking more excited than I’d ever seen her before.
As I watched them, Javelin stepped into the clinic and said to me, “Courier, could I have a word with you outside for a moment?”
“Sure no problem,” I said getting up after making sure Wingnut hadn’t fallen asleep against me. I followed her outside then asked, “What’s going on Javelin?”
She looked around as if to make sure no pony was listening to us before she said, “I want to see about hiring you to make a delivery for me, one that you can’t let anypony here know about.”
“I might be able to do that, it all depends on where you need me to go and why,” I said.
She looked a little scared for a moment before she said, “I know I made a big deal about Trotston earlier when you first arrived, but that was mostly for show. You see I’ve been trying to change things around here for some time now, throwing off the ways of my predecessors. One of the biggest problems we have here is the mistrust for that damn town.”
“I noticed that when I brought them up before, Trotston has much of the same opinion as you do. Though from their side I think they just want your town to leave them alone.”
“Yes, my ponies have given them a lot of trouble over the past few years. All over a stable we left half a century ago, I want that to end. I don’t expect that our two settlements will ever be friendly toward each other, but I want to try and at least stop the mistrust and hatred between our two groups. Both sides have lost a few ponies over a stupid thing like them taking over our old stable.”
“That’s what I don’t get, I’m from a stable too and as much as I understand how hard it is to let go of your home, why do you all hate them so much?” I asked.
“We didn’t at first, the first leader of The Annihilators was the one who told them they could use the Stable. It wasn’t till a couple years later that the fighting started. We weren’t even the ones who started it at least that’s what I was told. All I know is that it all started with a Stallion from Trotston who wanted to be with a mare from The Annihilators.”
I put up a hoof, “You mean this whole thing started over a bad romance?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know all the details as I said before, but from what I know, it looks like it. The thing is it doesn’t matter anymore, I want to see if you can bring a letter to the leader of Trotston. I want him to meet with me on neutral ground to see if we can find a way to mend things between our two groups.”
“I don’t see Rusty doing that, he wouldn’t be able to trust you, he would think it was a trap of some kind.”
“My thoughts exactly, that’s why I need you, the mission I have for you should help fix that. After hearing that your griffon friend was formally a Red Talon I had an idea. I want you to also bring a letter to The Red Talons and request that a wing of their griffons sit in on the negotiations serving as a neutral party while we talked, to make sure neither side tries anything. If you do this I’ll pay you two thousand caps and I’ll pay whatever the Red Talons need me to. I’ll give you two letters one for the Red Talons the other for Trotston,” she said her face still looking scared, as if somepony was going to overhear what she was saying.
I mulled it over for a moment then said, “I guess I could do that, though I’m not sure what good I can do with Trotston, at the moment I’m banned from going into the city because of Wind Thrasher, but I can at least try.”
She smiled, “That would be perfect,” she reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a few bags of caps and two letters that had been sealed with wax, “In the letter for the Red Talons I’ve told them to send a griffon here to settle the amounts that I’ll need to pay, once that is good I’ll have them let you know so they can tell you to get the other letter to Trotston.”
Taking everything she had I said, “I’ll head that way after I’m done here, if nothing gets in my way that is. I need to go back there anyway to talk to Gigi and get an update on my missing friend.”
“The sooner you can do this the better, but I understand that things can get in the way. Just try and get this done as soon as you can,” she said.
“I will. Was there anything else you needed me to do?” I asked.
“That was all, and thank you for helping Courier.”
I smiled, “No need to thank me, it’s what I do and it’s good to see that you want to find a way to fix things with Trotston.”
She smiled and turned to leave saying, “War isn’t the answer Courier, have a good night.”
When she left I saw Aura flying toward me, she landed a moment later, a smile on her face, “You look happy Aura.”
“I am, it was nice to talk to Smokescreen about Trip Wire. It helped me get past some of the lingering things about her,” she said.
“Did you tell her about the relationship you had with her?”
She shook her head, “No, but I think she figured it out. That wasn’t what we needed to talk about.”
I was about to ask her something else when my Pip-Buck dinged, “What the hell?”
I lifted it and looked at the message that came up on the screen…
Decryption Complete for Transmission from Stable 28, do you want to play the Audio File now?
Yes/No
I almost forgot about the Transmission from my Stable. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I looked at Aura and said, “Should I listen to this now?”
“It’s from your Stable Shadow, you never know what it could be.”
“I’m just worried it’s something stupid from the Overmare.”
“If it is then so what, you just ignore it afterword’s, but what if it’s from one of your friends or Auntie?”
She had a point so I clicked on ‘Yes’ and listened…and the voice of Auntie came out of the Mark II…
Shadow Star sweetie, I hope you were able to get this. It’s not easy for me to find out where you’re at in the Wasteland while I’m stuck in Stable 28. I know I told you that you needed to run far away from this place and to never look back, and I hate to have to do this to you since I’m sure you’re still trying to find your mother. The Stable is in Danger and you need to come home right away.
I can’t explain to you everything that is happening right now, but The Overmare has lost her mind. She’s brought griffons from an unknown Talon company into the Stable, declared Martial Law, started executing ponies who make too much trouble for her and imprisoning ponies who she doesn’t feel like outright killing. She’s changed the passcodes to the Door and we can’t get out without the help of the Mark II. I know this is a lot to ask of you sweetie, but we need you. She’s already thrown Strawberry Milkshake into a cell and she’s ordering the Griffon’s she’s hired to start hunting you down.
I don’t know why she wants the Mark II so bad, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it. If that was all she wanted I’d tell you to stay away, I can take dying to protect you, but I can’t watch the rest of the Stable die with me. I’m in hiding right now, but it’s only a matter of time before she finds me, there isn’t a lot of places to hide in a Stable. Save the ponies of Stable 28 and don’t come alone, if you can get a message to Box Tape about this, he’ll know what to do if you tell him it’s a code PP287. I love you Shadow, and if you can’t make it here in time to save us, then make sure you kill The Overmare, she can’t be left alive. I’ll do what I can for now…This Transmission Repeats…
Shadow Star sweetie, I hope you were able to get this.
I shut off the file and looked at Aura with horror written on my face, “My Stable…”
Aura reacted faster than I could, “Now’s not the time to think Shadow, if you’re Stable is in trouble then we have to act now. That transmission is a few days old already, and we don’t have time. Quickly bring up your broadcaster and look for Military Channel 55878.”
I did, I found the file quickly then asked, “Now what?”
She pulled my Pip-Buck closer to herself, tapped on something then said into it, “Emergency broadcast to The Red Talons, this is Aura Bloodtalon with a message for Gigi or Apollo.”
She paused for a moment then I heard Gigi’s voice echo out of my Pip-Buck, “Aura you better have a good reason for using this channel.”
“Shut it mom, this is an emergency, Shadow was able to decrypt the Transmission from Stable 28. Looks like a Talon Company is working with their Overmare and they’re doing something nasty. They are killing ponies and trying to send out some of the griffons to hunt for Shadow,” Aura said.
A pause then Gigi said, “Stable 28 is near Cartwheel right?”
“It is.”
“That’s Red Talon territory, no Talon company would dare work any contract in my territory. Don’t worry, I’ll send three wings to meet you in Cartwheel, I’ll let Shadow show them to the Stable.”
I pulled the Mark II closer to myself, “I thought your talon company didn’t go into active Stables?”
Gigi Laughed, “Normally yes, but we do have an unwritten rule. If a Stable is under attack from an outside group like a rouge Talon company we will make an exception. Greta made the rule about Stables to keep us from helping ponies out here attack them, this is different. Now head to Cartwheel and my griffons will meet you there. Gigi out,” then the signal went dead.
I was shaking with rage now, the thought of The Overmare hurting the ponies I grew up with, the ponies I called friends, hurting Auntie who was like another mother to me. No, I wasn’t going to let this stand, it was time to go home.
I looked at Aura again, “Let’s get Wind Thrasher and Wingnut.”
“Good idea, but do you have a plan?” she asked.
I grinned, “No, not a plan, not yet at least. I do however know that it’s time to kill that bitch who calls herself my Overmare…”
[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]
NEW PERK ADDED!
Déjà vu: Hey remember that time when…and that other time when… Well you will now, due to the damage you have dealt to the magic your mother placed on your past memories, you will now start to randomly remember things from your distant past. Just Remember…oh wait, you haven’t yet!
QUEST PERK ADDED!
Mysterious Pony Rank 2: The Mysterious Pony has made himself known to you. Helping you on your journey, but still keeping to the shadows. The Mysterious Pony will appear more often now when you are in the middle of a difficult fight.