“Never doesn’t mean anything to you because it holds no power over you. Now get up, and FIGHT!”

I ran down the broken street as another crack filled the air, another bullet missing me by inches. Wrath laughing his insane laugh as I tried to duck behind a crumbling wall. I know he was able to shoot me through a brick wall when I first met him, but that was at close-range, this one was thick concrete. I breathed heavily trying to think of a plan. I was far from my friends, I don’t have my barding and duster, then to top it off my weapons are still in the room back at the mansion. I knew better than this, no matter where you go in The Wasteland, ALWAYS bring your shit.

My eyes went wide and I jumped to one side right as another loud crack filled the air from his rifle. The concrete wall that I was just hiding behind exploded into gravel as a large hole appeared, right where my head had just been. I started to run again, ducking around another corner then moving down an alley, “How powerful is that rifle?”

“You’re gonna have to find a better hiding spot. I’m sure you’ve noticed that my rifle is a little more powerful than before. After our last few encounters I figured I needed something that could blow you apart with a single shot. So, I went and got myself a beautiful new AMR, if you don’t know what that is. It’s short for Anti Machine Rifle, the king of all Sniper Rifles. This beauty fires a .50 BMG bullet and has a range of up to two miles and can still blow a hole big enough to kill you, no matter what.”

“Thought you needed that big of a gun to kill me did ya? Guess you’re compensating for something, pencil dick,” I said as I ran. I passed by an open door and an idea came to mind. Smiling I ducked behind another thick wall then concentrated my magic.

I heard an angry growl echo off the walls around me as Wrath yelled, “Fuck you Courier!”

Before he could take another shot, I teleported. An instant later I was just inside the doorway I passed by a moment ago. I heard the shot followed by the wall crumbling where I was before, “I have a new game, hide and seek,” I whispered as I made my way toward a staircase that lead up a, still mostly intact, building.

“Hahaha, that’s a nice trick kid. Too bad it’ll only buy you a little more time before you die. You can’t hide forever, with my perception scope, I WILL find you.”

“Not if I find you first,” I said quietly to myself as I worked my way up the stairs, hoping to find a place higher up that I could look around and see if I could spot the red unicorn.

I needed to find something I could use to fight back, I wasn’t going to be able to do anything with just my hooves. He was twice my height and way stronger than me. All I had was magic, even if I was getting better at it, I doubt I could kill him with my small range of spells. When I reached the top floor, I found myself in a large office. This building was still mostly intact and the office was much the same.

I looked around wondering if this place had anything I could use to fight back against Wrath. Sadly, there wasn’t much in the office besides useless plastic letter openers, but from the look of it somepony had been using it to hide out in. There was an unrolled mat on the floor on the other side of the desk, with a set of old saddle bags lying next to them. Moving over to it, I noticed that the stuff was really old. It seemed as if nopony used this stuff in decades, maybe longer. Lifting the saddle bags, I looked to see if anything was in them. To my surprise three things fell out, a memory orb, a note, and a sword that curved forward.

Picking the sword up I saw that it was still in pretty good condition, “Well it’s not a gun, but it’s better than nothing.”

Sorry I couldn’t stick around here, I have too much work that I need to finish. I’m grateful that you helped me, if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have survived that fall. You’ve always been there for me even after so much time and what I did. I’m not sure if you’ve forgiven me or not, either way it was good to see you again my friend. I wouldn’t have left without talking to you first, but time is short and what I have to do can’t wait. I have to correct the sins of my past if ponykind is going to survive. You were right, I was a fool, for so many years I was such a damned fool. Don’t worry though, soon everything will be better. Go back to your family, they need you more than I do. Life is crazy as hell. Don’t let my past destroy what you’ve done over the years.

I left you the sword you gave me, where I’m going I won’t need it, my power armor will serve me just fine just like it always has. I’m also leaving you this memory orb, it’s one of the only ones I was able to get back. I figured you’d enjoy watching it if you ever find a recollector. It’s the one of that night, you know which one I’m talking about. It’s one of my happiest memories, next to the day I met you. If you wish to view it, the password is easy, at least for you. It’s the name of the place where we watched the sunset when we were young.

I have to go, I’m sure The Enclave will be coming for me soon. Don’t worry though, if they find me I’ll make them pay for branding me. I’ll miss you my friend, please live a happy life and forget about me, my world is coming to an end, don’t let yours.

“I should have guessed it was nothing but nonsense, I guess a dashite found this place with a friend and they were staying here. I just wish I could find out the full story one of these times,” I said slipping the note and memory orb back into the old set of saddle bags then putting them on. Even if I wasn’t being hunted by a Sin, I still wouldn’t be able to watch the orb.

I swung the sword around a few times, testing it out. It was light and moved through the air easily enough, the edge of it also looked extremely sharp. If I could find Wrath and get in close, this would serve well to take off his annoying head. The problem was finding him and not getting shot while I searched. I sighed and started looking around the office for anything else I could use, but apart from a bottle of sparkle cola, a few bottle caps, and an old Wing Boner magazine, there wasn’t anything I could use in here. I still might keep the magazine for another time though.

Sighing again I moved closer to the window, made sure not to show myself, and peeked out. The rain was falling harder now, making it harder to see anything. Wrath picked a perfect time to trap me in this Goddesses forsaken place. Since I couldn’t see the red unicorn or the glow from his magic from where I was, I decided to use the time I had to see if I could get a message out to my friends.

I opened the broadcaster on the Mark II and searched for a signal I could use, but the screen was blank. Either there wasn’t a signal that my broadcaster could use to pick up on, or the barrier he put up around the ruins was blocking it somehow. Either way, I couldn’t call for help.

I was about to get up and go back down the stairs when something told me to move. I’m not sure what it was, but an instinct deep down made me jump to my hooves and jump away from the window. A second later a loud crack filled the air outside right as the window blew apart. Glass flew through the room followed by the loud howl of the wind as it blasted into the office. I felt small cuts on my face as the glass shrapnel blew into me, making me wince at the pain.

I didn’t stop to see what happened, I knew as soon as the sound of braking glass filled the room along with the storm raging outside. As I ran out the door, the wall next to me blew apart as a hole appeared in it right as thunder rumbled, followed by Wrath’s magically enhanced voice, “I told you that you couldn’t hide forever.”

I didn’t even bother to respond as another hole appeared in the wall as I ran past, the bullet missing me by inches. Wraths laugh of pure joy echoing off the walls around me as I darted for the stairs. Before I could reach them, a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky and I felt something trip me. At least that’s the only way I could describe it. One moment I was running, the next it felt like something took hold of my foreleg and threw off the grip of my hooves. I tripped, skidding to the floor as another hole blew into the wall right where my head was a second before.

I got back to my hooves and found myself looking through the wide hole in the wall. Through it and the office on the other side where another hole had been made where the large bullet passed through, I saw him. Wrath was standing on the building right across from the one I was in looking through the scope of a big ass sniper rifle, an evil grin on his face, “Don’t worry I won’t miss again!”

As he pulled the trigger, something flew out from the stairway and slammed into me sending us through another window. I got a quick flash of somepony holding onto me, their face and form hidden under a red cloak. Then we landed in a pile of trash at street level. I moaned as I got back to my hooves, my back feeling like it was on fire. Luckily the trash cushioned my fall, unluckily the pony landed right on top of me before bouncing off when we hit.

To my surprise, it wasn’t a pony who just saved me, it was a zebra, “Stupid pony, is now really the time to be asking silly questions!? We need to run, before that sniper gets off another shot!”

“Run where?” I asked as the zebra jumped out of the trash pile looking around quickly before motioning for me to follow her.

“Anywhere that is away from the sniper,” she said starting to walk down the road her eyes searching for any kind of danger.

I followed her, my ears perked for the telltale sign of his rifle firing. Sadly there wasn’t much we could do, the rain was falling so hard now that I could barely see the Zebra a few feet in front of me. As we walked Wrath started to taunt us, his voice still echoing off the buildings, “Run, run as fast as you can, but there’s no escaping my ferocious plan! Hahahaha!”

“He is rather full of himself,” the zebra said as she rounded a corner and stopped.

“He’s a Sin, they’re all full of themselves. By the way, who the hell are you?”

“Yaksha, now stay quiet pony. I need figure out a way to get us out of this situation,” she said reaching into a satchel that she had slung under her cloak and pulling out what looked like pieces of a sniper rifle. In a matter of seconds, she had it assembled, “It does not matter if he is a Sin or a radroach, he invaded my home and he will pay the price. That scaffolding he blasted holes in was antique.”

I looked at the her for a moment, “Your home? You mean you live in these ruins?”

“Is that not what I just said? Now be quiet, he may have an uncanny ability to find you, but he still has to look for us, let’s not make it easier by talking,” Yaksha shushed me, she then stood on her hind hooves lifted the rifle with her forelegs and looked down the scope, “Stupid ponies thinking they can come in here and shoot up the place.”

I wasn’t sure what she was waiting for, but I kept my mouth shut as she slowly breathed in and out, her rifle slowly moving back and forth. As she did, Wrath’s voice echoed around us again, “When I started this game I didn’t intend this to be hide and seek!”

“Gotcha,” Yaksha said, then she pulled down on the trigger. Her rifle roared followed a moment later by a surprised yelp from Wrath.

“His horn is glowing, he is using a spell to magnify his voice, it makes for an easier target. Like a smoker hiding in a field at night,” Yaksha said going back to all four hooves, slinging her rifle over her back then turning to run, “I suggest we run, he’ll get off another shot after that. Trust me, you don’t want to get hit by a rifle like his.”

“That we can agree on,” I said following Yaksha as she ran down the alley. A moment later I heard Wrath’s rifle boom and the road just behind us blew apart, “How many bullets does he have for that thing?”

We rounded another corner and kept running, trying to put as much distance as we could between the red unicorn and ourselves, “He is using an Anti-Machine Rifle, it seems like he is using .50 BMG rounds which normally holds seven rounds in each magazine.”

I ducked under a piece of fallen debris, followed a moment later by Yaksha right as another bullet ripped into the ground behind us. We started to crawl through the small space before I finally answered her, “Wrath’s rifle has a scope called a perception scope, it can see through just about everything so no matter where we hide, he’ll be able to see us. I think the best way for us to stop him is for one of us to distract him so the other can strike. I think the best time for one of us to do that is when he’s reloading.”

“It is bad enough that he has an AMR, but a perception scope too? Anything else you want to tell me?” she asked glaring at me.

“He’s really good at teleporting and one of the best snipers in The Enclave,” I said sheepishly.

She just shook her head and crawled out of the rubble looking around again, “He may think he is a good Sniper and maybe he is, but he has not fought a zebra with my kind of skills. Pony, we will try your plan. You distract him while I find a place where I can get a good shot.”

She grinned from under her hood, “Keep your head down and keep running, I am sure you can keep yourself alive for a few minutes.”

Rolling my eyes, I smiled, “Yeah, I think I can do that, but first can I ask you a question?”

“I think you just did,” Yaksha said with a quick laugh, “But what is on your mind?”

Too my surprise she laughed harder, “Why would I not help? You were in trouble, that is all there is to it.”

“I guess you’re right, thank you Yaksha, I’m Shadow Star by the way. I just realized I haven’t gotten the chance to tell you my name.”

She smiled wider, “Introductions later Shadow Star, go distract that unicorn while I find a spot to snipe him from.”

Her cloak shimmered and she vanished, just like Sheena’s. I’m starting to understand why Equestria had such a hard time fighting the zebras now. They may not have pegasi or unicorns like we do, but they had their own kind of magic. I remembered my teacher in the stable saying something about zebras having magic fetishes, I thought she was trying to pass off a dirty joke, but now I see what she really meant. With things like the zebra stealth cloaks and the machines of war I also heard about, they had to have been difficult enemies to fight. I’m just glad the ones I’ve met so far have been on my side.

I popped my neck right and left then grinned widely while I stepped out from behind the rubble and yelled as loud as I could, “HEY WRATH, I thought you wanted to kill me! Some sniper you are!”

I heard the crack of his rifle right as I started to run down one of the crumbling roads. His shot only missed by an inch, it’s getting harder to dodge those shots of his, the sound of the road exploding from the power of his rifle loud in my ears. He fired again but I was able to duck behind another building then I kept running. Wrath didn’t let up as I ran, taunting me the whole time, “That’s right run Courier, keep on running until you can’t anymore!”

Breathing hard I responded, “At least Monsoon was brave enough to come after me face to face, not hiding in a storm taking cheap shots! Too bad nopony in The Enclave taught him how to defend against a stable pony with a fucking energy spear!”

In quick succession, three shots hit the ground near me, one getting so close it burned a line along my foreleg. I ducked and rolled as he fired twice more sending small pieces of the road flying through the air. Smiling I stopped moving and started searching around for the glow of his horn, it’d be the only thing I’d be able to see through the rain.

He started to laugh, “Looks like it to me. I guess it doesn’t matter, this is goodbye Courier!”

I smiled, “You really should learn to count your shots Wrath,” I noticed a faint greyish glow two buildings away. I pulled on my magic and teleported. The building was only a couple stories tall and not too far away. I appeared a few feet away from the angry red unicorn right as he was just starting to pop in a new mag.

I pulled out the strangely shaped sword and attacked him, not giving him time to finish reloading or speak. He dodged the first slash, blocked my second with the stock of his huge rifle, then barely ducked under my third. The last slash nicked his ear. He cursed then pulled out a side arm and opened fire. I ducked behind a chunk of concrete, “So Wrath, how good of a fighter are you really?”

I started to run out from behind cover right as Wrath was attempting to reload his massive rifle again. He just slid the new mag home when a crack erupted from a few buildings away and a bullet ripped through Wrath’s foreleg. He growled in pain, his magical hold on his rifle faltering. I didn’t waste a second, I ran faster and kicked him as hard as I could in the side. He flew back, dropping his rifle in the process. I swiveled around and slashed for his throat, but Wrath wasn’t going down that easily, he dodged my first strike then kicked me back in turn.

I cursed then took hold of his rifle with my magic and pointed it right at him, letting the blade I was holding fall to the ground. He grinned at me, his eyes wide giving him a crazy look, “And what do you plan on doing with that Courier?”

“Oh do I? Tell me, do you really have the magical strength to fire that weapon?”

“It doesn’t matter, you’re done for,” I said, activating S.A.T.S. I targeted his chest and pulled the trigger. At the same time the large rifle fired, I saw a flash from where I assume Yaksha was. What I didn’t expect was the recoil the rifle had. The stock flew back slamming into my shoulder. I felt blinding pain in my left eye as the scope rammed into it and heard a pop as the stock dislocated my shoulder. I went flying backward as the rifle spun out of my magical grip vanishing in the gloom. At the same time there was a flash of grey light as Wrath teleported out of the way of each shot Yaksha took.

He reappeared behind the same concrete rubble I was using before to hide behind. I moaned trying to get up, but my body wasn’t listening to the commands I gave it. Wrath looked over at me chuckling to himself, “Hahaha, I knew you couldn’t handle the power behind that rifle. You need strong telekinesis to be able to fire an AMR. Who’s your friend out there? They’re a terrible shot.”

I laughed a little to myself just lying there looking up at the raining cloud cover, “Some zebra I met about five or ten minutes ago.”

His horn started to glow and he spoke again in his enhanced voice, “Zebra, if I were you I’d come out of hiding. If you don’t, your friend here dies,” he reloaded the pistol he had and pointed it at me.

“What’s wrong Wrath? I thought you wanted to kill me. Why use me as bait to get my companion to show herself?” I taunted.

He looked over at me, “Because I don’t believe that it’s a zebra, for all I know it’s Pride. I don’t care what Cloak said, I don’t buy that crap about him forgetting you. It’s not right that he was placed as the new leader of The Sins, he’s new blood, all because he was part of some fucking experiment. I should’ve been placed as the newest leader of The Sins, not HIM!”

“What makes you think Stardust has anything to do with this? If he was helping me why would I be all the way out here huh? I’m only here to find a way to get my friend back from you Enclave bastards,” I retorted.

“Pfft, I make enough problems for them out in New Pegasus, why would I need to come all the way out here?” I said as the rain fell harder, the sounds of the droplets getting louder as it reverberated off many of the channels and openings throughout the ruins, it was almost deafening. A flash of lightning lit up the dark sky for a moment giving a flat look to Wrath’s features.

He shook his head, “Either way it doesn’t matter, be it a zebra or Pride I don’t care. I’m doing this for Monsoon.”

I saw the hammer pull back on his pistol. I sighed then closed my eyes, “Is that what he would’ve wanted you to do?”

He paused for a long moment, then when I cracked my eye open (the other one was swollen shut now from the blow it took) I saw Wrath lowered his weapon just a little, “What do you mean?”

“You said that your brother was the only pony who treated you kindly even after you became a Sin, why was that?”

“He believed me, he knew that I wouldn’t have ever hurt my family. I was always an angry stallion, but I never took my anger out on my family. They were the one thing in my life that I cared for more than myself. When they died Monsoon stood up for me at the trial, he even made sure I was doing okay when I joined The Sins. He was all I had left of my old life, my only tie to who I used to be before my name was taken from me and I was dubbed Wrath The Furious.” His pistol lowered more and he looked away from me.

I did my best to sit up ignoring the pain in my shoulder and eye, “If you kill me now out of anger, you’ll become the pony everypony in The Enclave said you were. I know I killed Monsoon, but you have to see that I only did it to protect myself. If I could change what I did I would.”

I could see my words were getting to him, his hard, angry exterior was melting away, replaced with sorrow, “I used to be a good stallion…”

I saw a shimmer then a rustle of a cloak, a second later Yaksha came flying out of the darkness, her right forehoof coming down to knock the pistol away from Wrath. Her left hoof came around and slammed into his face, throwing him back. He cursed as he tried to dodge another attack, but he was no match for the quick reflexes the she possessed. She kicked him in the stomach then twirled around and slammed a hoof into his nose followed by a side kick to his head.

Wrath fell back, putting a hoof up to protect himself from another strike, “Yaksha STOP!”

She did, her hoof an inch away from the downed unicorn. She looked back at me from under her hood, “Why should I do that?”

“Because, he’s defenseless and I don’t think he’s going to hurt me anymore.”

She shrugged, “If you say so, but if he makes any sudden moves, I am going to break his neck.”

She backed up then came toward me looking over my injuries. As she did I looked at Wrath who was looking at me like I was a pony he’d never met before, “See, a zebra, not Stardust. Isn’t there any way I can repay you for killing Monsoon, one that doesn’t end with me dying?”

He looked over at Yaksha then back at me and sighed, “I just want a normal life again. I want my brother back, my family back, my old life. I never wanted to be the pony you see now.”

“Then leave The Enclave, go help ponies in need. With how good you are with that rifle, you could do a lot of good for the ponies in The Wasteland. Hell, the ponies at Frosty Summit or even The Kingdom could use a pony like you.”

Yaksha finished looking me over, then she took my left forehoof in her right one, planted her left forehoof along my left foreleg, “This will hurt, I am warning you now,” then without warning she pushed hard.

There was a loud pop from my shoulder accompanied by a wave of pain. It felt like somepony had just injected hot lead into my shoulder and forehoof, I screamed a little then beat my free hoof on the concrete roof, “FUCK!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” I said through my gritted teeth. When the pain passed I looked at Wrath again.

“I can’t just forgive you for killing him, but I also owe you for literally obliterating the old Pride. I’m not sure where to go from here. I can’t just leave the Sins, they’d hunt me down and kill me. If I stay, then you’ll kill me or that zebra you have with you will.”

Yaksha reached under her cloak and pulled out a healing potion, “Here, this will help a little with the pain. I also think you should just kill this pony, you never know what he will do to you if you let him go.”

Wrath sighed then looked up at the cloudy sky, as he did he pulled out what looked like a small box with a button on it that he pushed, “I’m done fighting, I should’ve just killed you when I had the chance, now no matter what I’m dead. The barrier is down, you can leave whenever you want. Good riddance I say, that shitty excuse of a leader we have isn’t a pony I’d want to work with anyway. I might’ve hated the old Pride, but all in all he was a good leader. Stardust though, pfft, he’s filled with more hate than I am. He lets it cloud his judgment and it makes him a poor leader, not to mention that he’s more condescending than the former Pride was.”

I was going to say more, I knew that with just a little more persuasion, I could get Wrath to change his ways and help me get rid of the rest of The Sins. Then a voice came out of the dark sky, Stardust’s voice, “Really Wrath, you think I’m a poor excuse for a leader huh?”

All three of us looked up to see Stardust slowly flying down toward us, his black and blue combat armor reflecting the light from the lightning in the distance. He didn’t smile, he didn’t even grin, he had that same hard look he had the last time I saw him. He landed a few feet away, his gaze falling on Wrath then Yaksha and myself, “Didn’t I say that we were not going after The Courier while she was in The Kingdom?”

Wraths angry glare came back as he said, “Yeah and…? I had to take my chance to kill her for killing my brother.”

Stardust cocked his head to one side, “Brother? You’re a Sin Wrath, you don’t have family. You gave up all your rights to a name and family when you joined up. She killed the pony that used to be your brother, nothing more and nothing less. I gave you an order not to go after her until I said so, I’m disappointed in you.”

“Fuck you Pride, you don’t scare me, you’re nothing more than a wannabe!” Wrath yelled.

In a flash Stardust pulled out his own rife and pointed it right at Wrath, “A wannabe huh? From what I see, that’s you.”

“Stardust, don’t do it, you’re better than this,” I said, still not able to comprehend my friend acting this way.

He pulled his eye away from the scope and looked at me, “No one was talking to you.”

Yaksha was watching the three of us, her hooves twitching a little, “From where I stand, I am not sure who the real enemy is.”

Stardust let his eyes fall on Yaksha, “Say one more word and you’ll be the first one here to die zebra scum.”

She rolled her eyes and sat down watching the two Sins. Stardust chuckled a little, “Well even if I DID order you not to go after her, I have to admit that I’m impressed that you were able to get her away from her friends.”

Wrath looked away from Stardust and sighed, “It was the only way I could get my revenge. If I went after her in any other way one of them would’ve come to help.”

“But you overlooked the zebra who was roaming around the old ruins. That doesn’t say much for your skills as a sniper. I’ve been watching everything going on since you set up this trap Wrath. I saw the zebra way before she stepped in to help The Courier.”

“DON’T you dare talk about my skills as a sniper CHILD. I’ve been shooting ponies since you were still sucking on your mothers TIT,” Wrath yelled.

I spoke up again, “Stardust, please stop. Put the gun down and listen to me, I’m begging you.”

He moved the rifle around to point it right at me, “One more word Courier and you will die, I don’t care if Cloak wants you alive or not anymore. I will take you to her alive if I can, but I’ll risk that Pip-Buck destroying files if you push me. I’m not going to listen to your lies, I’m Pride now, not Stardust. I won’t tell you AGAIN!”

Stardust lowered his rifle then smiled, “I know what to do. Wrath you disobeyed me, that can’t go unpunished. I can overlook what you said before about me, you are Wrath after all, you can’t control your anger sometimes. So, I’m giving you a choice. You can either die where you stand for going against my orders, or you can prove to me that you really are worthy of being a Sin.”

Stardust’s hateful pink eyes fell on me again, “Kill Shadow Star with your own hooves. If you do that, I’ll forgive you.”

“I will not let you hurt her!” Yaksha said jumping at Stardust with her lightning quick reflexes.

Stardust dodged her strike then flipped his left wing up, hitting her in the throat. When she gagged and missed her follow up attack, Stardust wrapped her in a choke-hold until her eyes started to close. He let her go, her body falling to the ground, “Annoying cunt.”

“Nothing yet, she’s just knocked out,” Stardust replied, “Since you don’t seem to care about your own life then how about this. If you don’t fight Wrath, then I’ll kill your zebra friend here, then you. That’s not all, I’ll go into The Kingdom and kill every last friend you have.”

“OH WOULDN’T I!” he yelled putting a hoof on her head, then lifting it up ready to bring it down hard.

Wrath had the same look on his face, “As much as I hate you and The Sins, I’ll do it.”

“Good, because one of you is going to die tonight,” he said picking up Yaksha and flying to a higher building across the way, “I’ll watch from here, now make sure it’s good.”

I couldn’t see a way out of this, so I looked over at the red pony in his black combat armor, “I don’t want to fight you, but I don’t want my friends to die.”

“I know,” he said his face softening some, “Before we start, I want to know something.”

“I heard what you said to Cloak before, is it true? Are you really her daughter, the one she thinks is dead?” he asked.

I nodded, “I am, her name is Grimoire, she left Stable 28 a long time ago. I’ve been trying to find her ever since I left my stable. I don’t know what happened to her, but when she left she knew I was alive.”

He smiled then laughed, “Damn, who would’ve guessed that Cloak has been fighting because she’s angry at the world for taking her daughter away, and all this time she was in a stable. I wish I could see the look on her face when she realizes that you weren’t lying.”

He jumped at me yelling, “Defend yourself, if you want to win you have to kill me!”

Not hesitating I shot a blast of magic at him. His horn glowed and he vanished before the blast landed. I twisted around, but not before Wrath’s hoof caught me in the face, the blow throwing me back and sending me rolling along the roof. I got back to my hooves before he could land another blow, dodging to the side then flipping around to kick him as hard as I could in his side. My hoof connected with his black combat armor, but nothing happened.

His hoof shot out and threw me back again, this time my body flying into space as I went over the edge of the building. I saw myself falling toward the ground with my one good eye. Doing my best not to panic, I concentrated my magic and teleported a moment before I hit, reappearing on the other side of the street breathing heavily from the effort. There was a flash of grey light as Wrath teleported to the opposite side of the road.

He shook his head and started to walk toward me, “We do Courier, I don’t like it and neither do you, but this is the way it was always gonna go down.”

I took a step back wincing in pain from my injured shoulder and the blows I took from Wrath, “You’re wrong, if we work together we can incapacitate Stardust. Help me get him back, don’t be the pony you hate.”

He stopped for only a moment, “I became that pony a long time ago. There’s no going back, there never was.”

I let out a long sigh then prepared my magic, my horn glowing crimson as I started to ready my spell, “I don’t want to do this. There’s still good in you, I know it, but if I can’t make you see it then I’ll have to finish what we started.”

Stardust’s laugh echoed from the building above us, “Good job Shadow, now I can see what you’re really made of. Let’s see if you can put an end to this worthless unicorn. I hope you can, I don’t need scum like him on my team anyway.”

I ignored him and activated S.A.T.S., I fired another blast of energy at Wrath, this time it hit. The red unicorn screamed as he was hit by my concentrated expulsion spell, his body flying back and slamming into the wall behind him. I didn’t even wait for him to get back up, I pulled the blade I found earlier from the saddle bags and charged. Wrath’s horn glowed and he vanished again. This time I was ready for him, I flipped around and slashed wildly in the air.

Wrath ducked under the slash, but I still was able to leave a thin line along his cheek as he dove to my right. He attacked again, blocking the blade with an armored forehoof, throwing it back then his other hoof came up and slammed into my chest. Again, I was thrown back, my body skidding along the wet road. He ran at me again and I tried to fire the same spell at him. I wasn’t quick enough, he ducked down, skidding along the ground then flipped back up letting his hindlegs fly under me snapping my head up and sending my spell high into the sky, illuminating the clouds with a bloody crimson light.

He spun then slammed his hoof into my face, one, twice, three times, the last blow slamming my head to the cracked asphalt. The vision in my good eye flickered as the toll of using that spell so many times along with the teleportation and the blows to the head overtook me. Everything around me started to take on a strange clarity, my horn flickered and sparked. The hold on the sword was dying. With a loud ting it landed a few feet in front of my nose.

“Too bad you aren’t as good of a fighter hoof to hoof as you are with your weaponry,” Wrath said, his hoof coming down to slam into my face again, “With how much you were taunting me, I figured you wanted to pull me into some kind of trap. If I would’ve known you were this weak I wouldn’t have bothered trying to kill you with my rifle. It’s funny, you said that I was too much of a coward to fight you head on, you must’ve thought I didn’t know how to fight because I’m a sniper.”

He brought his muzzle close to my ear saying, “You should know that snipers have to be good at close quarters combat. If we’re ever discovered by an enemy, it might be the only thing that keeps us from dying. I thought you would’ve known that from traveling so long with Pride.”

My vision was slowly growing darker as he spoke, why couldn’t he just end it already? I’m done for, I don’t need to lie here and listen to this shit. I closed my eye doing my best to ignore the throbbing in my head. He was right, I thought he didn’t know how to fight because he always used his rifle to fight. I should’ve known better, I should’ve planned better, I shouldn’t have ever left my friends or the safety of The Kingdom. Without them I was nothing but a helpless mare who got lucky all the time. Not this time though, I put all my chips on one last gamble and the house won, or The Wasteland in this case.

‘Get up Star! Don’t let this fool beat you so easily, you’re better than this!’ I heard a deep voice say. I tried to open my eyes to see if somepony had come to save me, but my body wouldn’t let me, I was too weak.

‘You’re more powerful than you know Star, you come from a powerful line of unicorns. A family that would never let a weak pony like him win, get up and show the world who you are. You took down one of the most powerful Sins already, Wrath doesn’t hold a candle to him or the fight you had to suffer through to win,’ the voice said again.

‘You might’ve used another power to help you, but you still had to endure that all on your own. Not every pony could’ve used the power you have and lived to tell the tale. Stop telling yourself you can’t do this, remember never say never. Never doesn’t mean anything to you because it holds no power over you. Now get up, and FIGHT!’

I’m not sure what it was, but as I heard those words, almost like an echo from my misty past, I felt a rush of energy rush into me from somewhere deep inside my mind. I realized that even though Aquila was locked away, some of her power still resided inside my body. My eye snapped open as I yelled, “I’m not finished yet Wrath!”

I threw my head back, feeling it connect with his muzzle. Blood rained over my mane as I broke Wraths nose. He yelled and jumped back, “What the FUCK!”

I jumped to my hooves, a spell building on my horn. I wasn’t sure what it was, all I knew was it was something I never learned before. Mom never got around to showing me the more complicated spells she knew, but whatever it was, I knew it would help me win against Wrath. I let the magic flow out of me as I yelled, “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!”

The spell hit Wrath right in the face, but it didn’t throw him back, it didn’t kill him, it didn’t even seem to do anything at all. But as soon as the connection was made, Wrath’s eyes went wide and a flood of images rushed into me…

I was looking down at a young pegasus filly who was hugging Wrath saying in a sweet voice, “Daddy when you get home today can we play?”

A pegasus mare walked in with a big smile on her face, “Phantom Shot, you don’t wanna be late, your commander won’t stand for it.”

More images flew into my mind, the same mare kissing Wrath under the stars and moonlight on the night he asked her to marry him, the day their young filly was born. Phantom Shot who would become Wrath playing with his daughter, his wife and daughter watching as he was given an award for saving his comrades during a battle with Steel Rangers, him beaming happily as he was promoted to captain of his own squad.

Then the images changed. Phantom Shot walking into his home to find blood pooled on the floor, his wife lying dead not ten feet away. Farther in the room stood Pride, his dark purple eyes locked on Phantom Shot as he looked in horror at his dead love. There was a small cry as his daughter stood there next to Pride her eyes locked on her fathers.

“This is the price you pay for not taking my offer, if you won’t agree to become the new Wrath for me, then I’ll force you. Let this day be burned into your memory as a reminder of what happens to those who defy my will, let the anger flow through you for the rest of your days as you realize that they died because of you,” Pride said, and before Phantom Shot could do anything to stop him. A shadow pulled away from Pride and stabbed the young filly through the heart. Then Pride vanished, before the filly’s body hit the ground.

I stopped the spell gasping as the rush of memories from Wrath stopped and the magic took its toll on my body. I expected Wrath to attack me, to kill me for what I just did. To my amazement, he didn’t even move. His eyes were wide as his gaze met my own, a tear falling from one, “She was beautiful, wasn’t she?”

For the first time I saw that he was nothing more than a broken father. He had to watch as his entire life was destroyed, all because Pride wanted him to join The Seven Sins of Equinity.

“What’s taking you so long Wrath, I thought you were going to prove to me that you were worthy of being a Sin?” Stardust mocked.

I looked up at my old friend, I wanted so badly to use that same spell to help him remember, but I didn’t know how I used that spell. Even if I could, it wouldn’t fix him. That spell only worked to help remind a pony who they were, to show them memories they hadn’t lost, but chose to ignore. With growing sadness, I knew right then that the pony standing up there wasn’t Stardust. He was Pride, just with a different body. He wasn’t the Pride I knew, he was just a copy of the personality and cruelty that old Pride used to have. It would take a miracle to bring him back to us.

Before I could say or do anything, Yaksha moved. She must have been awake for a little while now, just waiting for the right moment to strike. She jumped to her hooves twirled around and kicked Stardust in the face as hard as she could. Stardust wasn’t ready for it and his body flew off the building and landed on a piece of broken concrete a few stories below.

“I can take him!” she said looking down at Stardust who was starting to get back to his hooves.

“No you can’t, trust me. Just get out of here and go to The Kingdom and get my friends. In the Mansion look for a black and red griffon, tell her what’s happening!” I yelled.

Stardust finally got back to his hooves and pulled the rifle off his back again, “She’s not going anywhere!”

Yaksha gave me one last look saying, “Stay safe!” then her cloak shimmered and she vanished before Stardust could take a shot.

“Dammit, looks like we’ll have to cut this game short,” he said looking back down at us, “Shadow Star, either kill Wrath or come with us. No matter what, your friends can’t save you now. They won’t make it here in time.”

A hoof slammed into my face again then strong forelegs wrapped around my neck squeezing tight. I kicked, trying to get loose, but Wrath was too strong and I used too much magic as it was. The surge of energy I felt before was gone now, all of it used up in my last ditch effort to try and save Wrath.

Wrath started to twist my head slowly, straining my neck to its limits. With one more hard twist, my neck would snap like a twig. Then his muzzle came close to my ear as he said as quietly as he could, “When you saw my memories, I got a small glimpse of yours Shadow. I saw how scared you were when Winter Frost came to get you. I saw that you did what you had to, to keep yourself alive.”

Stardust was watching us with a grin on his face, “Kill her Wrath, then get that Pip-Buck so we can get out of here.”

Wraths grip tightened a bit more, but he kept on talking quietly in my ear, “Your mother left for Los Alicorn, she took Sloth and Lust with her along with Greed. Envy’s gone rouge and is no longer listening to anything he’s told, The Sins are broken and if you keep going after them, I have faith that you can eradicate them.”

I could feel Wraths forelegs loosen slightly, “I know you want to save your friend up there, but you can’t. The only way to fix him from what I know, is to put him back into the machine that changed him. No magic can fix what was done to him. But if you’re as lucky as you seem to be, then maybe you’ll succeed, I hope you do. As for your mother, I don’t know what happened to her, but I do know that she lost most of her memories. Pride told me that a Memory spell back fired on her a few months ago and he was doing his best to help her piece back together the memories she lost.”

I don’t know what he was planning on doing, but from the way he was talking I didn’t like where this was going. I was barely able to get out, “What are you doing?”

He chuckled low, “Repenting,” then I saw what he was looking at. Only a few feet in front of us, just out of Stardust’s line of sight, was Wrath’s AMR, “Thank you for trying to save me Shadow Star. You are the first pony since my brother who’s ever tried, I forgive you for Monsoon’s death.”

As quick as a flash of lightning Wrath threw me forward, his magic took hold of the AMR, and he pointed it up at Stardust. I screamed as I watched him pull down on the trigger right as he brought the sights up to his eye, aiming to shoot Stardust, “NOOOOO DON’T!”

A bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky as a boom filled the air mixed with the crack of the blast of electricity. Everything seemed to slow down as I watched a smile pull at the corners of Wrath’s muzzle, then a bullet passed through his Scope, destroying it. The bullet blew through Wrath’s left eye then exited out of the back of his head, taking a large chunk of bone and grey matter with it. A stream of blood following the bullet’s path on its way out. Slowly, Wrath fell back, his rifle falling to the ground at his hooves and his body skidded across the ground leaving a crimson smear to mark his path. The chunk of his head that the bullet tore away splattered on the wall. The blood started to run slowly away as the rain cascaded the ground.

Wrath was dead, he died with a smile on his face protecting a mare from an evil pony. At least a pony that he saw as evil. His one last act in life was to be a good pony, to do better, to repent for a Sin he never committed. When time felt like it started to move properly again, the sound of the rain mixed with the low boom of thunder in the distance. I looked on in horror at the pony that only a half hour before had been my enemy. For weeks I wanted to kill him, to make him pay for the hell he put me through along with the rest of his allies. Now I felt empty, I saw in the last few moments of his life, that he wasn’t Wrath The Furious. No, he was just Phantom Shot, the father who lost his daughter to a monster and a husband who couldn’t save his wife.

I turned my head as Stardust landed a few feet away, he too was looking at the body of the dead Unicorn. A bored expression on his face as he said, “Pity he couldn’t see how stupid it was to try and kill me. Oh well, there’s only room for one Sniper in The Sins, and it wasn’t him.”

Stardust started to laugh, “Teammate, really? Do you think I care one bit about that trash? He wasn’t worthy of the title Wrath, just how the rest of them aren’t worthy of the titles they were given.”

His glittering pink eyes looked at me with arrogance, “I’m saying that no matter what happened here tonight, I was going to kill him either way. The same goes for the rest of The Sins. I’m gonna pick my own teammates, I won’t have the ponies that used to be loyal to that freak serve me. I need ponies I can trust on my side.”

“You told me that you’re Pride now. Wouldn’t they do what you say now that you’re their leader?” I asked trying to stall a bit.

His laughter grew more insane, “Leader? That’s rich Shadow, they don’t listen to me, they listen to Cloak! She’s a snake and a traitor to The Enclave, she always has been, I take my orders from Nightshade. He ordered me to kill the rest of The Sins, get that Pip-Buck, then find out what Cloak wants with it. Then he wants me to kill her once I’ve completed those tasks.”

My eyes got wider as I asked, “If Nightshade is giving you orders then why were you trying to kill me? He used to be my father’s best friend, he swore to protect me.”

Stardust looked confused, “Your name never came up, but if Cloak thinks you’re dead then I’m sure Nightshade does too.”

“If that’s true and he finds out I’m still alive, and then you kill me, he’ll be really pissed.”

Stardust rolled his eyes, “Like I care, I can deal with his anger for a few weeks, he’ll get over it. Though I’d like to keep it from coming to that, you’ll come with me back to Whinnieapolis to be presented to the High Council. As of now, you’re a prisoner of The Grand Pegasus Enclave, if you try to resist or hinder me in any way from bringing you back to my boss, I’ll kill you and your friends without hesitation.”

He perked up an ear, “What did you just say? Sorry I can’t hear you over this damned storm. If it was anything I wouldn’t like lemme tell you what I’ll do to your friends. First I’ll find and old vegetable peeler and tie them up as it sits heating over a fire. Second I’ll skin them alive with it, but not to the extent that it’ll kill them. Then I’ll shove their burnt flesh down each of their throats as I sever every single one of their limbs and drop them in the river tied to concrete blocks. But you know what might be better than that? Listening to their screams after I throw each one of them ass-first into a multcher.”

His condescending grin fell then with a sigh he said, “Fine, have it your way then,” he pointed his rifle at me.

I didn’t look away from his bright pink eyes, I wasn’t gonna give him the satisfaction of thinking I was scared. Then a bright green light illuminated his face, his eyes looked up for only a second before he jumped back right as a glowing Energy Spear planted itself in the ground right where he had been standing. I jumped back and looked up grinning as I saw Wind Thrasher flying down towards us, Wingnut on her back and leading the charge was Aura.

Aura landed next to me along with Wind Thrasher. She pulled her glowing spear out of the ground and pointed it at Stardust who still looked shocked at their arrival, “Don’t you even try to attack. If you do I’ll slice you into tiny little feather brained chunks.”

“Are you okay Shadow?” Wind Thrasher asked pulling out a healing potion and giving it to me.

I drank it down as Stardust watched us still with that look of shock on his face, “How did you all get here so fast, that zebra couldn’t have made it to The Kingdom yet?”

“I’ll explain later,” I said looking at Stardust, “Now it’s my turn to give you a counter offer. Drop your rifle and come with us, you’re MY prisoner now.”

Stardust laughed, “As if. I won’t go with you even if you could win in a fight against me.”

“Stardust snap out of it, we’re your friends!” Wingnut said jumping off Wind Thrasher’s back and walking closer to the pegasus.

When Wingnut spoke, Stardust’s eyes went wide and he took a step back, “Who the hell are you kid? Why do I feel like I know you!? Did I kick your pet mutant or something?”

Wingnut sighed then walked even closer to Stardust, “I’m you buddy, Wingnut. Don’t you remember the second night we stayed in New Pegasus? You told me I was like a little brother to you.”

Stardust dropped his rifle and pressed a hoof to his head, his eyes getting wider, “I don’t know you, but I do know you. WHY!?” Stardust started to scream, then for a moment his eyes relaxed and he looked at Wingnut again, “Wingnut? Kid what are you doing in the rain, you’ll get sick?”

All of us looked in wonder at the grey pegasus as he seemed to finally remember something. Wingnut didn’t let up, he got even closer, “That’s right I’m Wingnut, the colt you saved from the Cazadors.”

“Cazadors, I remember those fucking bugs. They wanted to kill you, but we stopped them, saved you and a filly…” then His eyes glazed over again and he howled in pain, “No, that’s a lie, I don’t know you kid. The Courier’s doing something to my head, trying to make me think I’m a different pony! STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!”

“No Stardust, it’s real. You helped me and Honeysuckle that day, you took us back to Little Hoof. Please remember, you ran away from your stable to get away from them for good,” Wingnut said getting within an inch of Stardust who was shaking and still holding his head.

“The Courier tells only lies so she can turn good ponies against the Grand Pegasus Enclave. She’s a monster who wants to destroy Stratus and bring down the good we have done for The Wasteland. She’s the enemy of all pegasi, her friends are no better, they fall for lies because she turns their minds to serve her evil ways. She kills and destroys without any thought of the ponies who get in her way!” Stardust chanted to himself.

“Shadow isn’t evil, The Enclave is. The Sins took you when we were at Frosty Summit and twisted your mind so you’d forget who you were!” Wingnut shouted making his voice crack.

“He’s right Stardust, you have to believe us. If you’d just let us bring you back to Stable 97, we could show you that we are telling the truth,” I said, hoping he was still as gullible as he used to be.

“Shadow, not a good idea to talk!” Aura said lifting her energy spear higher, “WINGNUT GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

At first, I wasn’t sure what she meant, but as Wingnut turned to look back at Aura, Stardust’s head came back up and he had a crazed look in his eyes. His hoof came around and he hit Wingnut as hard as he could in the side of the head. The colt flew across the street and slammed into the wall. He fell to the ground, his body as limp as a corpse.

Before I could even move Aura screamed, “That’s IT! I don’t care what the kid said, you went too far asshole! I’m going to KILL YOU!”

She flew past me, her energy spear slicing through the air. Stardust grabbed his rifle and slung it over his back as he took to the sky, Aura hot on his hooves. I wanted to stop them, but right now I was just as angry as Aura was. I was so sure if there was one pony Stardust wouldn’t hurt, it was Wingnut. Wind Thrasher and I both ran over to check on the colt as Aura and Stardust fought in the air above.

Wind Thrasher got to him first, she moved her head close to him then with a sigh of relief she said, “He’s still breathing, I can hear his heartbeat. I think Stardust just knocked him out, but he took a nasty blow to the head. We should get him to town so he can see a doctor.”

I moved close to the colt and saw the rise and fall of his chest as he slowly breathed in and out. I kissed the top of his head then said to Wind Thrasher, “Get him back to town.”

“Don’t worry about me, I have to keep those two from killing each other. Wingnut needs help more than I do right now, just go, and hurry.”

She nodded, “I will. I’ll try and get you more help too, just stay strong.”

I returned a nod then turned to watch the two flyers battle each other in the dark sky I don’t know how they did it, but it seemed that each collision was accompanied by lightning flashes. The storm picked up as they fought, as if the goddesses themselves were hosting this battle. More lightning flashed, thunder cracked and the ground shook. Wind Thrasher carefully lifted Wingnut up and took off to The Kingdom. Aura ducked under a kick Stardust threw at her, her energy spear slicing back trying to take him by surprise. He flapped his wings hard and darted higher flipping around and trying to kick her in the side, a lot like he did when they first fought so long ago. Aura twisted in the air then dove under him, she then flapped her wings coming up behind him her spear flying through the air as green magical energy arced around it.

Stardust howled in pain as Aura’s spear sliced a thin line along his ribs. He didn’t let the pain distract him, he ducked again then twisted around, letting one of his hind hooves knock the spear aside before she could land another, more fatal blow. He kicked her in the chest sending her flying toward the ground. I could hear Aura yelp in pain, but she didn’t let that stop her. She pulled out of the dive and started to rush toward him again.

Her spear started to glow even brighter than before as she yelled, “Try dodging this motherfucker!”

Aura slashed her spear and a blast of thin green light flew toward Stardust, it arced out toward him in a thin line. I’ve only seen Aura do this one other time, it turned her close-range melee weapon into a powerful ranged weapon. Trip Wire sure put a lot of thought into that thing. Stardust cursed doing a backflip in the air to avoid the green energy, only to find another flying up at him from the pissed off griffon.

He was able to dodge around that one too, but the attack was a hair’s breadth from taking off one of his wings. Aura launched one more desperate attack at him, the glow around her spear not as bright as it was the last two times. The line of energy moved slower and Stardust avoided it with apparent ease. After that last attack, the crystal at the bottom of Aura’s spear that normally glowed a bright green, went dull and lifeless.

“Hahaha, now what griffon? It looks like that tooth pick is out of juice,” Stardust mocked coming to hover a few feet over her.

Aura looked down at me quickly then back at Stardust, “I don’t need it to be charged up to defeat you. This spear is still sharp as hell with or without its magic. I’ll still make you pay for hurting Wingnut. I’m his bodyguard and it’s my sworn duty to protect him.”

“He’s my friend and my contractor, I have to make you pay for hurting him,” she replied.

He shrugged, “I still don’t care, I’ll just have to kill you too then. But I think you should think twice about continuing this fight, if you really do work for that kid then you should go make sure he’s okay, not stay here fighting me. I’m not even here for you or your friends anyway, I’m only here to take Shadow with me or kill her, that all depends on her.”

“Stay out of this Shadow, this is between us. You should be using this time to escape,” Aura said not taking her eyes off Stardust.

Still not looking down at me she said, “Go back to The Kingdom, don’t worry about me, you shouldn’t be here to see this.”

Stardust started to laugh, “You have a point Griffon, she shouldn’t be here to watch as one of her friends dies!”

Aura laughed mockingly, “I agree, but it won’t be me who’s dying today, you’re the one who’s gonna take their last breath. There’s no saving you anymore.”

“Why do all of you keep trying to tell me I’m friends with that murderous Unicorn!? Why can’t you all see that I’m not her friend, I never was, she’s messing with your head,” he exclaimed.

“Aura, he’s not, you saw he almost remembered!” I tried to yell but she cut me off.

“He’s a lost cause Shadow, he has been ever since he was taken. This isn’t Stardust anymore, he’s Pride, you know it as much as I do.”

“Pride, I hope that once you’re dead you’ll see the truth. I’m sorry I have to do this, but I can’t let you keep hurting my friends and I won’t let you take her away from me. Shadow is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time, I won’t let you have her. She’s mine and I won’t let her go, not while I still have breath left in my lungs!”

Stardust’s amused look died as she said that, “I see now, you care for her more than just a friend…that’s just…SICK. How would that even work? That’s some seriously messed up, perverted, shit you got goin’ on in your pea-brained pinhead.”

“Aura don’t!” I yelled, my heart beating faster as I watched her close the distance between them.

She didn’t listen to me, I’m not even sure she could hear me right now. She was too lost in her anger at him to see what I saw. Stardust was grinning as he watched her fly up at him. He reached into a pouch and pulled something out. When Aura was only a few feet away, he dropped the small metal object then turned away from her flying higher.

There was a flash of bright light as the flash bomb went off, inches away from Aura’s face. She screamed and tried to shield her eyes, but she wasn’t quick enough. Stardust flew higher, flipped around, and pulled his rifle off his back, “I’ll admit, you’re a tough opponent. Unfortunately for you, you’re still no match for me. Die you hybrid freak.”

I watched in horror as Stardust took aim and fired. Aura looked up just in time and started to dodge, but there was no dodging a sharp shooter like Stardust. Not after that flash bomb went off, she didn’t have enough time. The loud crack of Stardust’s rifle echoed off the buildings, a bullet ripping through Aura’s stomach. Another shot rang out as Stardust fired again, this time hitting her in the shoulder, another shot to her left hindleg, and a final one hitting her on the right side of her chest. Blood misted around her as each bullet slammed into her body, her beak opened in a silent scream as she started to fall.

“AURA!” I yelled as I watched my friend fall head first toward the ground, a trail of blood following her path, her Spear not far behind. I grabbed on to her with the last of my telekinesis before she slammed into the ground. I was able to slow her fall enough, and she gently landed a few feet away from me.

I ran over to her, blood was already pooling under her and she was breathing shallowly. One of her icy blue eyes rolled over to look at me as she lied there limp on the hard wet ground, “Damn…that was…a dirty…trick. I’ll get you…next time…bastard.”

“Don’t talk, you need to save your strength,” I said quickly as I pressed my hooves on her wounds desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

“Don’t be sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong. You came to save me like you always do,” I said doing my best to stay calm as my heart pumped with adrenaline.

She coughed up some blood then smiled, “I’m sorry I…didn’t tell you…”

Before I could respond, Stardust landed a few feet away his rifle still aimed at Aura, “I’ll admit, she’s a strong one. Most would’ve already died from wounds like that. I guess the life force runs strong in griffons, but she’s definitely a goner. You can die with her if you so choose.”

I pulled Aura closer to me and did my best to shield her, “Don’t TOUCH HER!”

He stopped, looking at me like I was the oddest thing he’d ever seen in his life, “What does it matter what I do? She’s gonna die, that’s how life down here works.”

“Just leave us alone, please. I’ll do whatever you want, just leave!” I begged.

“No…Shadow…” Aura tried to say, but her strength failed her. Aura’s eyes rolled back and she passed out.

“AURA WAKE UP!” I yelled shaking her, “Don’t leave me please, I don’t know what I’d do without you, please I can’t do this without you.”

I looked back at him, Aura’s blood smeared across my chest and face, “I’ll go with you, I’ll give you the Mark II, I don’t care just let me save my friend.”

Stardust took a moment to think about what I said, then shrugged, “Fine, even though you can’t do much to save her, I’ll let you mourn the freak. You have two days Shadow Star. Meet me in Whinnieapolis at The Mill City Tower alone and unarmed. If you don’t, she won’t be your only friend that dies. You know that I have the means to make sure everypony you love dies horrible yet very unique deaths. If it comes to that I’ll make sure you get a front row seat to the show, you’ve definitely earned it.”

“I will, now get the fuck out of here Pride!” I yelled turning my back on the grey pegasus who used to be my friend, my best friend. Wolfsbane was right, technology in the wrong hooves is extremely destructive. Cloak and whoever the hell leads the program he was in made him more twisted than Oricalcos, a feat I thought couldn’t be done. He literally WAS dark magic, but Stardust is now pure, sick, twisted, evil. Maybe Aura was right, maybe he can’t be saved, but something deep down in the deepest parts of my brain made me think of something I must’ve read in a book somewhere ‘There cannot be darkness without light’. That’s right, the story of Nightmare Moon’s transformation back into Princess Luna. The Elements of Harmony brought out the light hidden in the dark and purged the evil sorceress from Luna, I just hope I can do the same for him.

“See you soon Courier,” he said, stopping my train of thought. I heard him pick up Wrath’s AMR, then with a flap of his wings, he flew off into the stormy night, laughing as I attempted to wake Aura.

I could feel her heartbeat starting to fade as blood continued to slowly flow out of her. I don’t know what to do, I not a medical pony. I don’t have any of my healing potions, and I am too far from The Kingdom to get her to a doctor. My eyes fell on Wrath’s body which lay only a couple of feet away from me. He still had his saddle bags, maybe, just maybe there was something in them I could use to help her.

“I’ll be right back; don’t you dare die on me,” I said getting up and moving over to the dead unicorn. Doing my best not to look at his lifeless body, I started to dig in his saddle bags in a vain hope to find a healing potion. I wasn’t sure how much it would help, but I had to do something.

After a frantic minute of searching I pulled out a few boxes of ammo for his AMR, an old recording, a picture of Wrath with his brother Monsoon, and one healing potion. I wanted to jump for joy as I found the small bottle of purple liquid. I put the rest of what I found in the old saddle bags I found in that office and ran back to Aura. Her breathing was getting labored and she felt cold to the touch. Slowly I opened her beak and let the potion flow into her mouth. She gagged a little then finally drank.

I watched as the blood slowed and her wounds looked like they got a little better, but it wasn’t enough to keep her alive. It would however keep her out of death’s grip for a little while longer, but would it be enough to get her back to The Kingdom? I let out an involuntary sob and pulled Aura close to my chest again, “I don’t know what to do. Luna or Celestia, please, I need help. I can’t get her back to The Kingdom on my own. I can’t lose her, not after I finally realized how much she means to me. I can’t lose someone else that I love, not like I lost Silver. Don’t do this to me again, PLEASE!”

A whisper seemed to flow on the wind, “She is not long for this world, but if she means that much to you, I can help just this once.”

I opened my eyes, sure that my mind was playing tricks on me. It wouldn’t be the first time. I didn’t see anypony around, honestly, I couldn’t see anything at all. It was like somepony used some kind of spell to drain away the light around me. I felt like I was in the back of a dark alley. My heart started to race again as everything went from a shadowy darkness to pitch black. A second later it felt like Aura and I were falling from a great height, I wanted to be sick, but the feeling didn’t last long. I felt my body land on something soft, then the darkness around me vanished and I found we were in the entryway to the mansion back at The Kingdom.

Standing in front of me was none other than Sheena and a tall older earth pony buck. He was dressed in fancy cloths much like Sheena with a bright yellow coat and an electric blue mane, he had a big mustache that matched his mane and a gold monocle over his left eye. His eyes were two different colors, his right was bright orange, his left was a pale blue. They both looked at the two of us in surprise, the yellow buck saying, “Now that’s what I call an entrance! I have to say dear, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Sheena however ignored the buck as she saw Aura. She ran down to us, “Stars above, what happened to you two?”

“Sheena thank the Goddesses, it’s a long story. Can you help Aura, she’s been shot. I gave her a healing potion, but I don’t think it’s working!”

Sheena yelled over at two servants who were watching us from the top of the stairs, “You two get this griffon to the clinic NOW!”

One of the ponies I saw was a unicorn, when they ran down to where we were she bowed, “Right away Empress.”

The unicorn lifted Aura up in her magic and they ran off down one of the halls. When they were gone Sheena pulled my head around to look up into her turquois eyes, “Do not worry Shadow, some of the best doctors in The Kingdom are here. They will take care of her, but I need you to tell me what happened.”

The buck that was standing with her before came down to join Sheena, “I have to agree, you gave us quite a fright when you just showed up out of nowhere with darkness swimming around you like a tornado.”

Sheena gave him a look, “Dear husband, please do be quiet for a moment; this is serious.”

“Fine, I’ll wait my turn my love,” he said sitting down and humming to himself.

“After we talked, I went for a walk like you said I should do. I got lost in my thoughts and wandered a little outside of the city. I ended up in some ruins just outside the walls where I got ambushed by Wrath.”

“I figured as much, Wind Thrasher already told me. I just sent out Cutter with a set of ponies to go help you. She said something about that friend of yours, Stardust. Did he do that to Aura?” she asked.

“Did you use some kind of spell to escape him?” she asked with a quizzical look.

I shook my head, “No, I told him to leave. I said I’d do anything he wanted as long as he let me help her. He gave me two days, said I had to meet him in Whinnieapolis then or he’d come back and kill the rest of my friends in the most horrible ways possible.”

Sheena sighed then let my face go, “That was a foolish thing to do Shadow, but it does not matter as long as you are okay. But I have to know, how did you get back here like you did?”

“I don’t know, one minute I was praying for the Goddesses to help me, then everything went dark and I ended up here,” I said getting up, “I have to make sure Aura’s okay.”

Sheena stopped me, “No you do not, you need to get checked out yourself. You look ready to collapse.”

“I’ve dealt with worse, now leave me alone, I have to check on her,” I said sternly, pushing past her.

Sheena stopped me again, “SHADOW STOP RIGHT THERE! You are in no condition to move around! You need to see a doctor, end of discussion.”

Sheena stomped her hoof on the ground hard, my ears folded back, her authoritative demeanor commanding, I couldn’t argue against it. “Fine Sheena I’ll do as you say.”

I saw her sigh in relief, “I am sorry Shadow, I did not mean for you to see that ugly side of me. You will be able to see her after you see one of the doctors. Right now, you need to let my other doctors take care of her, she looked like she was in bad shape. If you go barging in there, you may do more harm than good.”

The buck who I assume is the Emperor said, “Sheena my love, how about you go overlook things with her friend. I can escort this young mare to see a medic.”

Sheena winced, “Are you sure that is a good idea? I am not sure Shadow is in any shape to deal with your quirkiness.”

“Balderdash, she’ll be fine. You should oversee things anyway. I’m sure they can use your help,” he replied.

Sheena looked over at me with concern then relented, “Fine, but if you scare her in any way, no more candy for a week, and you know of which candy I speak of.”

I cocked an eyebrow wondering what kind of threat that was, The Emperor however grew wide eyed, “My love, I will be as well behaved as I can possibly be.”

“Good,” she said looking back at me, “I will oversee things with Aura, your other friend is down the hall with the colt. He is doing okay, he just took a nasty hit to the head.”

She turned and went down the same hallway Aura was taken down. When she was gone The Emperor smiled, his mustache dancing a little as he did, “So you must be that mare from New Pegasus my wife was telling me about.”

“Well then it’s nice to meet you I’m Emperor Periwinkle Punch, but you can call me E.P.P. if you want, or Winkle, or just Emperor if you so desire. Just don’t call me Punch or Yellow Dude Over There, I do have some standards,” he said joyously.

“Hmmm, no that will never do. Now that I think about it, it’s too formal for my taste,” he said with a frown as he twiddled his mustache.

“As fun as it is to stand here trying to figure out what you want to be called, I really don’t feel like doing this. I have too much to do and not much time to do it, can you show me where my friends are?” I asked.

“I would be delighted to, but first we need to get you checked out,” he replied.

“I’m fine, I don’t need to see a doctor. I need to check on my friends,” I retorted.

He chuckled, “You may think so Shadow, but I still believe that you should see a doctor. We don’t get to decide what we need in life, only what we want. For example,” he pulled the monocle off his eye, “I don’t NEED this monocle, but I WANT to wear it because it’s SOOO FAUNCEY.”

I sighed and moaned as a headache started to form at the base of my skull, “I need to check on my friends, if you really think a doctor needs to check on me then have them meet me there.”

“I guess that’d be rather perfect,” The Emperor said looking upward at something unknown to me and scratching his chin, “They’re right down the hall in the west wing. We figured it’d be better for the little guy to stay in the clinic for now.”

He looked over his shoulder, “The griffon? You shouldn’t worry, my wife may not look it, but she’s a skilled healer. With the help of our medical staff, I’m sure your friend will be fine. In times like this you can’t let yourself fall into depression, it’s the leading killer of most ponies in The Wasteland you know.”

“Apart from Stardust, Aura’s been with me since practically the beginning. We’ve been through so much together, she’s always the one who’s here to help me when I’m hurt like this. I don’t know how to help her, she’s not the one who’s supposed to get hurt.”

“You need to clear your mind and forget about it for now,” he said, I started to interrupt but he didn’t’ let me, “I say that not to be cruel, but because it’s the only thing you can do. Worrying about her won’t help her get better, it will only stress you out. Sheena always tells me not to worry when you can’t do anything to change what happened. So, I always try to smile and be happy, even when it seems hopeless.”

“If something happens it happens, that’s how fate works. Let me ask you this, do you think your friend would’ve done anything differently just because she got shot?” he responded, asking a question that was sure to make my head throb more.

“I don’t know, I mean she’s a great fighter but even she couldn’t have predicted what Stardust did. Maybe she wouldn’t have charged after him so recklessly,” I replied.

“Maybe, maybe not. If she’s the kind of friend who puts herself in the way of danger to protect the ones she cares about, then I doubt she would’ve done anything differently. At least for now try to calm down and relax as much as you can. I know you’re worried about her, but you’re in bad shape and you need your rest. I’m sure that when she recovers, she’ll be rightly pissed if she found out you hurt yourself more just because you were worrying about her wellbeing instead of your own,” he said, almost abandoning his wacky demeanor.

“I guess you’re right,” I responded solemnly, “So is this where my friends are?”

He nodded, “Yes, they’re right through this door,” he looked over at a zebra who was wearing a white lab coat, “Dr. Zane, are you free?”

The zebra looked up from the chart he was reading, “Yes your highness, I just finished my rounds. What can I help you with?”

“Can you join me in this room and look over her to make sure she isn’t suffering from anything internally?” he asked.

The Emperor smiled then knocked on the door before opening it slowly, “I hope everypony is decent in here, if not I’m still coming in.”

When the door swung open I saw Wind Thrasher, Doorstop, and Wingnut who was sitting on a bed. They all looked up as the three of us walked in. When Wind Thrasher saw me she gasped, “Shadow, you made it back!”

I nodded, “I don’t know how but yeah I made it. How are you doing Wingnut?”

To my surprise the colt looked away from me crossing his hooves and huffing. Doorstop sighed then looked at me sternly as if I’d asked something stupid, “Kid’s been in a pissy mood ever since he woke up. What the hell happened? I just got back and no pony will tell me anything, and what happened to your face? You look like you got in a fight with a hoofball launcher.”

I walked in the room and sat on the free space on the couch next to Wind Thrasher with a deep sigh, “Hoofball launcher? Oh never mind, it doesn’t matter. It’s a long story, short version is I was ambushed by Wrath then later Stardust.”

The doctor walked over to me kneeling down to look at my swollen black eye I got from the recoil of Wrath’s AMR, “This eye looks worse than it is I’m sure. May I ask what happened? Your shoulder also looks like you took a bad blow to it.”

“I fired an Anti-Machine Rifle, didn’t know how bad the recoil on the damned thing was until it was too late. Those Fuckin’ things should come with warnings on the stock,” I replied.

He lifted my forehoof, “It looks like you dislocated it but someone reset it, quite nicely too from the look of it. How bad does it hurt?”

I winced as he lifted it higher, “I can manage it just fine, but when you lift it higher like that it feels like you’re trying to rip my foreleg off.”

He slowly moved it in a circle ignoring my protests, “I do not think it will cause you any permanent damage, but you will be sore for a couple of days. I am more worried about your eye.”

As he moved up and started to examine my left eye I asked Wingnut, “Talk to me kid, what’s wrong?”

“Yeah, I know that Aura went after him after he knocked me out. Wind Thrasher told me,” he replied hostilely.

I tried to turn my head to get a better look at the colt, but Zane held my head in place, “Do not move!”

Sighing again I said, “No we didn’t kill him Wingnut, but right now I wish we did.”

“I agree with the Runt, we came all the way out here to SAVE the Cadet not to kill him!” Doorstop boomed.

“Yeah, he’s your best friend Shadow, he’s a part of this team, we don’t give up on our friends!” Wingnut yelled louder, “Of all the ponies out there, I thought you out of all of them wouldn’t ever say that! If it was you that was taken by The Enclave, Stardust would be doing everything he could to save you!”

I pulled my face away from Dr. Zane and yelled, “He shot Aura! She’s down the hall at Death’s door right now after being shot multiple times by Stardust. He’s not the same pony anymore Wingnut and right now if I could choose between killing Stardust over Aura getting shot just because she was trying to save ME, then yes I would. I wouldn’t be happy about it, I would feel like shit for not trying harder to save him, but yes I’d rather him die than see him living on after nearly killing another friend of mine.”

“If that’s true then how did you get back here alive!? He wouldn’t have just up and let you live or at least taken you with him if he shot Aura!” he asked furiously.

“Because I gave him my word that I’d do whatever he wanted if he let me try to save her. I only have two days to meet with him in Whinnieapolis. If I don’t he’s gonna come here next and kill all of you! I’d rather him die than watch him do more evil deeds, things he would never do if he was in his right mind! He’s already hurt you, Aura might not make it, and he’s coming back for more if I don’t live up to my word! So why don’t you shut the fuck up and for once and act like a fucking adult! This is how the world works, we can’t always get the things we want!” I screamed, a single tear falling down one side of my face.

The room went silent for a long moment, then Doorstop spoke up, “Did he really say that?”

I nodded, “He did and more, he’s not working for Cloak like we thought. He’s a new generation of Sin. He killed Wrath, and wants to kill the rest of them too, he said he’s taking orders from Nightshade. It looks like that pegasus who wanted to keep me safe when I was a kid wants to make a new kind of warrior that only answers to him.”

“No,” Doorstop said, “Nightshade couldn’t be the one who’s controlling him.”

“Because he was the one pony in Stratus who wanted the program at Stable 97 shut down. He wouldn’t just start ordering around Stardust like that, he’d be sickened by the thought of letting anypony get their memories wiped.”

The Emperor spoke before Doorstop could reply, “I’ve met that Pegasus before, a long time ago, he’s one of the only ponies in The Enclave that I respect. He’s scary as hell, but deep down he has a good heart. I think that if it was up to him, he would open up the clouds and try to get The Enclave to integrate with The Wasteland.”

“Who cares who he’s working for, I don’t even care what you say he’s doing Shadow, we aren’t giving up on him!” Wingnut shouted.

I sighed then pushed past Dr. Zane and walked over to Wingnut. He glared over at me, but I ignored him and pulled him close to me letting my sorrow show as I whispered, “I never said I was giving up on him, I just said that I’d rather he died before he did anything to Aura. Now even if we DO get him back, he’s not gonna be the same, you know that. He’s gonna have to live with the memories of what he did to his friends while he was under The Enclave’s control. I don’t want him to go through that, that’s why I said it, but I’m not giving up on him.”

Finally, the colt broke down and he hugged me back starting to sob into my chest. At first I was shocked, Wingnut never broke down like this, but after what’s been happening I could understand, “I just want him back, even if he’s different. We’ll be there for him just like we are for you Shadow.”

I felt Wind Thrasher come up next to us as she joined us in our hug, “We won’t give up. Right now though, we need to figure out what we’re going to do next.”

I took another moment, letting Wingnut settle down before I pulled away, “First we have to wait and see what the doctors say about Aura, she’s hurt badly. After that, then we can plan more.”

“He gave me two days to meet him, if I don’t he’ll come after us,” I replied.

“Then let him come, don’t let him dictate what you do. If he comes here I know with the help of Cutter and The Kingdom’s guards, we can subdue him. I was able to get into contact with my friend in Stable 97, they’ll be waiting for us to bring him in,” Doorstop said.

He barked a laugh, “Who do you think taught Stardust most of his moves, me that’s who. I may not be as young as I used to be, but I know all his tricks and more. I’ll take the time I have to work something out with Cutter, and Laser Light too if I can find her. She’s a tough young gal, she’d be perfect to help us.”

The Emperor perked up, “Do you mean the mare with the pink mane and a black flight jacket?”

“She’s in the courtyard right now, she looked a little down when I saw her before, but she said she wanted to be left alone for a while,” The Emperor said.

“That would be fine, but after you let Dr. Zane finish examining you,” The Emperor protested.

“Fine,” I responded then looking back at Wingnut I asked, “Are we good kiddo?”

Doing my best not to let my sorrow show again I said, “She’ll be lucky if she makes it through the night.”

My friends all looked down at their hooves, Wind Thrasher saying in a sorrowful voice, “I hope she pulls through, I like her.”

“This is my fault, I shouldn’t have let Stardust hurt me like he did,” Wingnut said.

“No it’s not, it’s mine for wandering off. She was only doing her job,” I said, trying to put his mind at ease.

The Doctor finished looking me over and said, “From what I can tell, your eye will get better. The swelling will go down in a day or two, faster if you drink this,” he said giving me a vile of some greenish liquid, “That is a concoction of my tribe that helps with swelling and other small injuries. It’s like a healing potion, but focuses more on inflammation.”

I thanked him as he left the room leaving behind The Emperor who was sitting in one corner of the room humming a little tune to himself. For a long time nopony talked as we waited to hear something from the doctors about how Aura was doing. I drank the green stuff Zane gave me and found I liked it a lot. Soon my sight was starting to come back in my left eye, things were still blurry but it was better than nothing. After three hours passed I couldn’t just sit around waiting anymore.

“I’m gonna go talk to Laser and found out what’s going on, if I sit around here any longer I’ll go crazy,” I said as I started to rise from where I’d been sitting.

“No, I’ll be fine. You stay here with Wingnut,” The colt had fallen asleep an hour ago, “He needs you more than I do right now.”

She smiled looking over at him, “I can do that, I’ll come find you though if we get news.”

“Thanks,” I said getting to my hooves, my body protesting from the beating it’d taken. I knew it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it still hurt.

“I should go check with Sheena I think,” The Emperor said getting to his hooves also, “It was nice to meet all of you.”

The two of us walked out of the room, I said a quick goodbye to him as we went different directions down the hall. I made my way to the front of the mansion then almost ran into Laser who was just walking back inside, “Oh Shadow, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay Laser, are you doing okay? You kinda left us earlier without saying anything,” I asked.

She sighed and nodded, “I’m doing okay, it was just all the talk about The Enclave before brought up some bad memories and I needed a little time to myself. I should be asking how you’re doing. I heard from one of the servants that Aura’s hurt, I was coming back in to check on things.”

“I’m barely keeping it together right now, I can’t do anything and it’s driving me crazy,” I said somberly.

“What happened?” she asked giving me the same concerned motherly look that Sheena had.

“Let’s talk outside, I need some fresh air,” I said heading for the door again.

She followed me back out to the courtyard, then we both sat on a bench next to the broken statue of The Goddesses. Once we did, I explained to her everything that happened since she left during our meeting with Sheena. I left out the part about the Zebra who helped me, mostly because I was sure she had a reason for living in the ruins and I didn’t want to bring her up until I could ask The Emperor or Empress about her first. I just told her that some random pony happened to help me out during the fight. When I finished the older pegasus looked worried.

“You aren’t really going to do what Stardust said are you?” she asked looking concerned.

“Right now, I’m not sure. Doorstop says I shouldn’t and just let him come here to try to kill us all. He thinks with your help, Cutter’s, and The Kingdom’s guards, we can capture Stardust. I’m not so sure though, I saw him fight. He’ll do whatever it takes to win, I don’t want him to hurt anypony else.”

She took a long time to answer, her face looked as if she was debating about sharing something. When it looked like she came up with a conclusion she started talking, “Shadow I think there are some things you should know about me if we are going to travel together from time to time, if at all really. As you know I’m a full-time bodyguard for Nexus so I can only stick around for short periods of time.”

I nodded, “I can understand, kind of, you have a duty to a pony that’s kind of similar to a griffon’s contract.”

She smiled, “Hah hah, it’s kind of similar sure, but my story is a long one I think only Nexus knows my whole story, not like he cares much though. Let’s see if I can pick apart some key moments. I suppose the best place to start is the beginning,” She looks thoughtful for a moment

“Well okay, to start, the cloud cities over parts of Equestria. Stratus and Nimbus, I used to live in Stratus, and most of what Aura and Doorstop mentioned about those two cities were mostly true. I have a husband and son still living there, they only know I’m down here, but for the longest time they didn’t know if I was even alive.”

“You used to live in Stratus? I remember Doorstop saying you used to be an Enclave solider, but I wasn’t sure before. From my understanding just about any pegasus down here becomes branded as a Dashite. Yet you still have your cutie mark,” I said putting pieces together

Laser smiled, “You’re not entirely wrong. Yes I was Enclave, I was a damn good soldier too. However, because of my family’s history of traitors and mostly disagreeing with Enclave belief, it was only a matter of time before they tried to come after me.”

Laser had a far-off look, sadness was apparent on her face, “Quite simply, I was assigned to scout a nearby Raider camp causing trouble for some of our soldiers, but we were intentionally mislead and showed up in the wrong place. I noticed it immediately. Turns out, the mission wasn’t to scout the nearby raider camp, there wasn’t any, it was an assassination attempt on my life.”

I was in shock, “Holy shit Laser, that’s horrible. It must’ve been hard on you to have allies turn on you like that.”

She just nodded slowly, “It was, my brothers and sisters in arms, ponies I spent most of my life with. They all turned on me, I was crushed. Obviously, the assassination attempt failed. I ended up killing my own brothers and sisters to defend myself.”

Laser got that same far-off look again, “I almost didn’t, a heavy infantry soldier shot a missile launcher near me, sending me careening quite a distance away. The blast covered my whole body in dust and rocks. I assumed they thought my body was obliterated but I was saved by two siblings who owned a ranch.”

“Wow, you were pretty lucky from the sound of it. What happened next?” I had to learn more. Maybe it could help me discover some sort of weakness that The Enclave had.

I was a little bummed that she didn’t continue her story but she DID mention it was a long story, “I can understand that, just talking a bit with you is easing my mind, if only just a little.”

Laser smiled, “Thanks Shadow, let’s get back to the matter at hoof. That story I told you about myself has a point to it, I’ve been in your horseshoes before and it’s not an easy thing. Over the years I’ve been down here, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to make hard choices even if you don’t want to. I think you should go with Doorstop’s suggestion. If you go to Stardust like he wants you to, it could be worse than him coming here to attack us. You have to remember that your friends are stronger than you know. Aura only got hurt like she did because she wasn’t thinking clearly and Stardust pulled a dirty trick to win. He may be a good fighter, but he’s not perfect no matter what he thinks.”

“I know and you’re right, I can’t just let them take me in or get the Mark II. If The Enclave is going through this much trouble to get it, then whatever they want with it can’t be good. As much as it scares me, I have to have faith in all of you to be able to do this,” I said.

She smiled again, “That’s right,” She started to dig in one of her pockets, pulling out a recording, “Here, I want you to have this.”

I took it and examined it closely to see that somepony had written ‘Log 1’ on it, “What’s on it?”

She giggled, “When I first got to The Wasteland, I started to document my experiences on recordings. This is the first one, I made it over twelve years ago. When you have time after this is all done, listen to it. Once you do let me know and I’ll give you the next one. I have a lot of them, but I think they might help you learn from some of my past mistakes.”

I smiled then slid the recording into the old saddle bags I was still wearing, “I’ll do that.”

“I don’t really need them, but I figure they could help you. I’d like to see some good come of them,” she said returning a smile.

I remembered the recording I took off Wrath. Pulling it out I looked it over. Laser looked at it then at me with a quizzical look. I noticed and explained, “I got this off Wrath, Gluttony had one too when I killed him. I’m starting to wonder if all The Sins have something like this on them. Pride might’ve had one too for all I know, but if he did it was destroyed when I vaporized him.”

“I’m no expert on The Sins so I wouldn’t know, but let’s give it a listen,” she said.

I popped the recording into The Mark II. Soon a young filly’s voice came out of my Pip-Buck.

“Daddy, Mommy said that you were going on a long mission so I wanted to make this for you. This way, if you get lonely while you’re at work you can hear my voice and think of me!”

“I love you daddy, more than everything in the whole world, I can’t wait until you get back home, but if you can’t sleep I thought I would sing you a song like you do for me when I can’t sleep!”

The filly went quiet for a moment then started to sing, it was a song that I knew all too well because Vervain used to sing it to me on the nights when I would wake up looking for mom.

Hush now, quite now
It’s time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quite now
It’s time to go to bed

Driftin’ off to sleep
Exciting day behind you
Driftin’ off to sleep
Let the joy of dream land find you

Hush now, quiet now
Lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It’s time for daddy to go to bed!

“There you go daddy, now you can sleep easier when you are away. I love you, I miss you…Good Night!”

The filly’s voice stopped with the recording, but her song still echoed on in my own head. Wrath kept this with him, why? So he could remember the child he lost? Or was it because he just missed her so much that hearing her voice somehow helped him cope with her loss.

Laser Light was crying silently as the recording finished, when I looked over at her she smiled and wiped her eyes, “Wrath must’ve loved her so much, I can understand what he felt losing her like he did. Even if my son isn’t dead, I can’t see him because it’d put him in danger. I have a similar recording my son gave me, granted it’s not as cute as that little filly’s voice, but hearing it now and again really helps me cope and arming my son and husband with knowledge of me being alive and well down here helps even more.”

“I may not be a parent, but I know that pain of losing somepony like that. I just wonder why he had this on him?” I said.

She shrugged, “I’m pretty sure it was to remind him of who he was before he was a Sin. Even if he didn’t kill his family as you said. As a parent, a mother especially, you can never stop thinking about your child no matter how old we parents get.”

I pulled the recording out and slipped it back into the saddle bags, “Maybe, but I guess I won’t know unless I ask Greed about it. Maybe I should listen to the one I got from Gluttony. I should go get the rest of my stuff while I can anyway.”

“That’s a good idea, why don’t you go do that and I’ll go talk with Doorstop about this plan of his.”

We both walked back into the mansion, Laser headed down the west hallway. I headed toward the staircase, then stopped when I saw Aura’s energy spear laying on the ground a few feet away from where we appeared. In all that happened, I forgot all about it. Walking over I picked it up and smiled as I examined it. The crystal on the bottom was starting to glow a light green again. Lifting it with my magic I took it with me as I headed back to our room.

It didn’t take me long to find it again, the large empty room was the same as it was when I ran away from Aura after our bath. A quick flash of the moment when she was looking down into my eyes flashed in my head. I smiled as I remembered that moment, I only wish I hadn’t run off and instead told her how I felt. Maybe things wouldn’t have happened the way they did. I shook my head then walked over to where Aura’s things were scattered on the floor and set her spear down next to them. If she got better at least she’d still have the one thing that meant the world to her.

I found my own stuff, transferred what I found in the ruins to my own saddle bags then pulled on my barding and duster. Then I holstered Dream Walker under my duster and put on my saddle bags. Once I was dressed I started to feel like myself again. Something about dawning the duster just completed me, I felt better in it as if just by wearing it I was The Courier Mare. I turned and headed back out of the room. Waiting for me by the door was a tired looking Sheena.

“I am not sure yet, but we’ve done all we can for now. She is sleeping in the ICU right now. I wanted to find you so you could see her, that is if you so wish,” she replied.

“No, she is not. She needs her rest, but I think she is out of the woods. It will all depend on how strong she is. She lost a lot of blood and one of the bullets was lodged an inch away from her heart. She is a lucky griffon to have survived what she did.”

Sheena started to lead me down the hall and back to the West Wing of the mansion. As we walked I said, “She’s the strongest griffon I know. If she’s made it this far, she’ll be fine.”

Sheena smiled again, “My husband is telling your friends right now that she is doing better, but I wanted you to be the first one to see her. I hope you do not mind. I would rather keep the number of ponies down so she can rest.”

We reached the bottom of the stairs and were walking down the hall going past the room where my friends were. We passed a few ponies and zebras as we walked, most of them were in lab coats, “How did you find so many doctors?”

“Luck mostly, but it is also thanks to my husband. He has a group of pegasi who do anything they can to find medical ponies to come live here so we can grow our medical staff.”

“We get a lot of ponies that have either been attacked by The Enclave, were just branded, or found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in The Wasteland. The Kingdom does whatever it can to help ponies,” she said leading me to a slightly open door through which I could see Aura, “I will leave you two alone for now, call me if you need me. I will be just outside the door.”

I thanked her then walked in, shutting the door behind me. Aura didn’t look good at all. She had bandages all over her, tubes and IV’s connecting to different parts of her, and a terminal with some wires connected to her chest was making beeping sounds. Her face though looked like it always did, only she looked peaceful as she slept. Right now, she looked like she didn’t have a care in the world. It almost made me smile because even when she slept most of the time, she always had a hard look to her features like she was ready to kick ass at any moment.

Moving next to the bed I placed a hoof on her talon, “Hey Aura it’s me, Shadow. I’m glad you pulled through so far, now I just need you to keep on fighting. I know you can do it, you’re the strongest, bravest, griffon I know.”

She turned her head a little but didn’t say anything back to me, but I felt her talon twitch under my hoof. Feeling a little silly talking to her like I was I kept going, “I wanted to thank you for coming to help me and for doing what you did. I’m also sorry for walking away again, I don’t mean when I went off to the ruins, that was just an accident. You know how I get when I’m thinking too much, I tend to wander without watching where I’m going. No, I meant earlier when we were in the bathroom.”

My next words caught in my throat for a moment. I took a moment to breath in slowly before saying, “I know how you feel about me, I’ve known for a while. At first, I didn’t want to tell you because I figured you were still getting over Trip Wire, but I knew and I should’ve said something. I guess I just wanted you to tell me yourself, maybe it was too hard for you, I’m not sure. I’ve never really had feelings like that in the past, even with Silver.”

Aura’s face grimaced for a moment, her heart rate rising a little, then she settled down. I wanted the beeping to go back to normal before I said more, “I know how you felt about Silver Snip, what I didn’t realize was that you were jealous of her, I couldn’t see it then but I see it now. Either way, I shouldn’t have left earlier when you were finally going to tell me how you felt. I should’ve listened to you and been there like a friend is supposed to, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to hear it, it was because I was scared of my own feelings.”

“It just seems that when someone loves me, bad things seem to happen to them. My mom, my dad, Vervain, Balefire, Stardust, and Silver. Something happened to them all, one way or another, I didn’t want that to happen to you. I want you to be happy, that’s why I left, but it was the wrong thing to do. Forcing you to change how you feel about me won’t make you happy, it’ll only make you sad. So, I’ll be sure to sit down and talk to you about anything you want once you recover. Even so, I have to tell you this now because if I don’t I have a feeling I’ll never have the chance to say it again, even if I don’t know if you can hear me or not.”

I sighed and took in a deep breath, my heart pounding in my chest as I prepared to say the words I so desperately wanted to say. Finally with a few deep breaths my heart rate went down and I was able to say, “Aura, you mean more to me than anyone else has ever meant to me. I didn’t know it until I talked to Sheena, but I should’ve. I love you Aura, more than how I love the rest of my friends. I don’t care if you’re a griffon, a pony, or something else, I love you so much that it hurts to think of my life without you in it. I want you to lay next to me and be there for me for the rest of my life, be that a day or fifty years or more. I’m young I know and I may not fully understand what it’s like to truly love someone, but I think I do. I think I’ve felt this way for a long time, but with everything happening, I’ve been ignoring it. I’ve been to stubborn to act on how I feel, but no longer. I love you with all my heart and all I want is to see you happy. So please get better and pull through this, do it for me and I’ll make sure never to hurt you again like I did when I walked out. I promise you that.”

I rested my head on the mattress next to her taking in deep breaths, happy I was finally able to say it to her. She probably didn’t hear me, but now that I got it out, I knew it’d be easier to say again when I knew she could. After a few moments passed I felt Aura twitch again and a slight whisper escaped Aura’s beak, “Never leave me again.”

I looked up at her, but her eyes were still closed. I could however see a slight smile on her face. Somehow, someway, I knew she heard at least a part of what I had to say. Moving close I kissed the tip of her beak then got up and was about to head out of the room. The beeping on the terminal started to beep faster and I heard a soft moan from Aura. Looking back I saw her face looked strained and she started to move around on the bed.

(Beep…Beep…Beep…)

It got faster and an alarm on the terminal started to go off. Sheena burst in the room closely followed by two doctors and a nurse.

(Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep)

“What’s going on?” I asked as one of the doctors started to check the terminal and the other started doing something to Aura, the nurse examining her on the other side.

Sheena starting giving orders to them then she looked at me, “Shadow I need you to leave right now!”

She looked past me saying to a pony behind me, “Wind Thrasher get her out of here please, we need space!”

I felt the batpony take hold of me pulling me out of the room, “Shadow, let them work.”

Wind Thrasher held on tighter, “I’m not a medical pony but I think she’s going into cardiac arrest, they need to get her heart rate to drop.”

I stopped trying to pull away as an even worse sound came out of the room. The door was still open and I could see that Aura stopped moving…

(Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)

“Dammit, we need a defibrillator in here NOW!” one of the doctors yelled at the nurse who ran to one corner of the room, “Sheena start chest compressions while it charges!”

“Aura….” I said, “No…please no,” I said quietly as I watched in horror.

Sheena started to push down on Aura’s chest. The nurse came back over with a cart and started to hook up two gems on wires to Aura. There was a loud high pitched sound, then the Nurse yelled, “Charged to three Jules, clear!”

She pushed a button on the cart and a shock ran into Aura, her body jumped then Sheena put a hoof to her neck and shook her head, “Again!”

Aura’s body jumped again, but still that same sound kept up its mocking tone. It was like The Wasteland was laughing at our crude attempts to defy it’s wishes. Sheena yelled, “Again, dammit don’t do this now!”

Nothing seemed to help, I kept watching as they tried again to get her heart to start. Finally, Sheena pulled the gems off and started to do chest compressions again, her voice sounding distant as she yelled for Aura to wake up.

“Aura don’t leave me alone…I can’t do this without you,” I whispered as I felt Wind Thrasher’s grip on me slacken as she too watched in disbelief as the medical staff and Sheena did whatever they could to bring back the dying griffon. It was too late, I could see it. Everypony I loved either leaves me or dies. I should’ve known better, but again I wanted to act like nothing could stop me from being happy. I was wrong, I always would be. You don’t fuck with The Wasteland, because no matter how hard you tried, The Wasteland always wins.

As I watched the griffon I loved slip away, something deep down inside me broke. I survived losing my mom, my memories, my home, Stardust, Silver, and so much more. This time I couldn’t do it, not again. The sound of the terminal continued to mock me as everything inside me that made me who I was now broke, shattered, was obliterated, leaving behind nothing but anger and sadness.

[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]

NEW PERK ADDED!

Tenacious Loyalty: Due to the bond you share with your companions, they will jump in to help you when you are in need of assistance. When your health drops to a dangerously low level, one of your friends will be there to protect you and fight in your stead. Be warned, this perk can have devastating consequences, keep a watchful eye on how much damage you take while in battle.

Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 34: Get Out Alive