Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 35: Ashes

The cart hit a bump jostling me in the small cramped space. I was heading north from The Kingdom riding with one of the caravans that traveled between The Twin Cities and the land south of them. The pony who agreed to let me ride along with his wares said he could get me as far as Saint’s Parish. He refused to go to Whinnieapolis.

“A pony would have to be crazy to go near that place, Saint’s Parish is my limit,” he said sternly.

I took a spot in the back of his wagon and that’s where I’ve been for the past day, as the pony slowly proceeded north. He was a nice stallion, he didn’t even ask me for caps. He tried to strike up a conversation with me a few times, but I wasn’t in the mood and kept quiet. After a while he gave up and left me alone in my sorrow and anger. Even now I still couldn’t stop myself from remembering those last moments. The moment when I watched another friend of mine take her last breath, someone I loved. As much as I tried, I couldn’t stop the rush of memories as they came flowing into me, like a tidal-wave.

I remember the look on everyone’s faces as one of the doctors in the room where they were treating Aura said those words, “Time of Death, 9:32pm…”

Sheena cursed in zebra and pushed the Doctor back, “No, we are not giving up on her!”

“Empress, she’s gone, we need to call it. Don’t do this to her friends,” the first doctor said.

Sheena looked back at the doctor and said in a stern tone, “No, we are not giving up! If you aren’t going to do anything else then leave! If you are the kind of physician to simplify death in such a way, then we do not need you here!”

Everything else they said between them was nothing but a mumbled blur to me. Tears fell freely down my face, I swore I wouldn’t cry anymore, but there was no stopping them. Aura was the strongest griffon I knew, she was so beautiful, so smart, so great. Now she was just a corpse, as dead as the rest of the poor souls who lost in the game The Wasteland loved to play. I finally realized that The Wasteland is a living entity given life by the radioactive destruction brought on by the war that happened so long ago.

I took a step back, “Aura…no…please no.”

Wind Thrasher was also watching in horror, but when I moved back she looked back at me with tears streaming down her face, “Shadow?”

“I’m going to kill him…and he will suffer a thousand deaths worth a thousand for each death.”

She took a step toward me, “What are you talking about Shadow?”

She tried to take hold of my hoof, but I pulled away, “He killed her, this is all his fault. I’m going to make him pay, I’m going to make him regret ever touching her. Once I’m finished with him, I’m going to kill every last pony in The Enclave that he works for. I’M GOING TO KILL THEM ALL!”

“You’re upset, I understand, but you’re not thinking straight,” Wind Thrasher said trying to grab my hoof again.

Before she could, I turned and ran down the hall. I heard Wind Thrasher yell something, but I kept on running. Knowing I couldn’t outrun her, I activated my magic and teleported as far as I could. I found myself in the courtyard, I only stopped for a moment so I could get my bearings. I still haven’t recovered from my fight and the spell took a lot out of me. It only took a moment, once I felt a little better I ran past the gates of the mansion. I didn’t stop running until I reached the other side of The Kingdom. It was there that I found the caravan that was just getting ready to head north. I meant what I said, I had nothing to lose now. Stardust wasn’t the pony I used to know, he was just another Enclave Solider that needed to be slain. I knew where he was going to be, I had his old Sniper Rifle. I wasn’t going to meet him and turn myself over like I said I would. I was going to blast his fucking brains out, then once Stardust was dead, I was going after Nightshade. I don’t care what I was told about him, or if he was the pony who said he wanted to protect me so many years ago. He was the one who gave Stardust his orders. As far as I could see it, he was just as responsible for taking Aura away from me as Stardust was.

The Enclave already hated me, they wanted me either dead or captured all for mom’s Mark II, or for whatever other reason they could come up with. I’m going to give them a real reason to fear me, to hate me, to want me dead. I’m going to kill every last pegasus I could until they were all dead or I was. Either way, it was the only way I could put an end to this. It was the only way I could keep the last of my friends safe.

Now I was on my way to the city that was said to be a horrible place to go. It was filled with gangs, raiders, criminals, and zebras. Most ponies would say it was stupid to try to go to a place like that, but I don’t care. None of them scared me anymore, I only had one destination, Mill City Tower. The infamous spire that pierced through the skyline of the city. From the small amount of conversing I DID have with the Caravan pony, he told me that used to be the tallest building in Whinnieapolis, now it was the only one of the skyscrapers left standing in one piece. He also told me the ground forces of The Enclave used it as a base since it was nearly impossible to access for the Gangs and away from the normal citizens who lived in Saint’s Parish.

I wasn’t worried about that, I wasn’t sure how yet, but I’d find my way inside and hopefully be able to obliterate whoever lived there. Thanks to the Radio ponies from Up and At ‘Em, I know that Nightshade will be there. If I couldn’t find my way inside, then I still had an ace up my sleeve.

I tried my hardest to take my mind off things as I watched the vast amount of dead pastures, hills, and trees go by through a small hole torn in the cloth of the covered wagon. This place was even drearier and dead than The Marejave Wasteland, The Northwoods Wasteland looked like a place that was manufactured by the bombs for ponies to continuously die two-hundred years later. That’s exactly what it was doing to my friends, Aura was shot by Stardust, and Stardust had his mind warped by a machine invented by ponies that lived here. This land should be purged from the country once known as the great nation of Equestria, wiped clean.

I put my eye up to the hole so I could see ahead of the wagon and saw that we were closing in on our destination. In the distance I could see through the mild green and brown haze the crumbled desolate buildings that made up The Twin Cities, it looked even more horrible than the lands surrounding it. At least the Whinnieapolis part looked bad, I couldn’t tell what Saint’s Parish looked like because of the giant wall surrounding it. From this distance the wall looked pretty decent compared to the others I’ve seen surrounding Freedom and The Strip, but not as good as Trotston. From what I can tell, it was made of brick, a little mismatched but it didn’t look like it was just thrown together by random ponies willing to help better protect the town from various forms of mayhem.

We passed a sign that said ‘Now Entering Lakewood, Population 61,938. The part that said the population had been crossed out with spray paint and replaced with a skull and crossbones splattered with blood that had dried long ago. I crawled to the front of the wagon and asked the caravaneer, “Would you mind if I turned on the radio for a while?”

“Not at all, music will help pass the travel time,” he replied.

I switched on the radio and music started to play. It was a stallion singing very passionately about a mare laughing in violet rain. Why would it be violet? Was it acid rain that they were immune to or something? I guess it was because it was a song made before my time that I didn’t understand the lyrics. Even though I didn’t understand the song, it still made me feel like crying some more because of its slow rhythm. The various instruments playing in the background setting a scene in my head of me and Aura in the thunderstorm, casually staring at each other as violet droplets washed away the blood and dirt while purple lightning flashed overhead. We came closer to each other as the guitar solo led to a series of the vocalist singing “Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo,” and came into a tight embrace as the instruments played their final notes and she disappeared with a peaceful smile. The song faded and I had a strange feeling that even though things ended the way they did, she was at peace. Perhaps she heard my words before she crashed, or she was haunting me as a lonely ghost in the vale.

There was a book series I remembered reading while in school in the stable about vampire ponies and how when they died they went to a place called the vale as ghosts to spend an eternity alone watching over their loved ones. It’s a sad fate, but still a sort of peaceful one nonetheless because she could see her friends every waking minute until they too draw their last breath, bringing her to a final peace to ascend to the Goddesses to be reunited with them. I suppose if I ever want to talk with her again, I could see if Squirrel and Moose have a way to do some sort of séance.

There was a long moment of soft static on the radio while I was alone with my thoughts and then the radio ponies started to speak, “That was Violet Rain by Bluenote, our local music legend who was discovered at our very own First Boulevard in downtown Whinnieapolis two-hundred and forty-two years ago. Coming up after our next song is the late-night edition of Up and At ‘Em, see ya there. Up next we have a song by another Whinnieapolis native band, White Twilight by Midnight Owl…”

Yet another song played that made me feel sad, this one was actually about losing a loved one. The electronic sound reminded me of some of the dubstep I heard on the radio before but with far less bass and with calmer, smoother sound. I imagined myself lying in a bed beneath the stars at a midnight that looked like morning almost, a strange phenomenon that somehow let it be light outside whilst showing the vast sky of twinkling stars. As I gazed upon its beauty, stars shot away creating black cutouts in the sky of feathers revealing distant red nebulas at the tips of them. Goddesses, the radio can be so cruel to the emotions, constantly tugging on my heartstrings reminding me of the pain that ails me.

As the soft digital sounds became louder and more upbeat I turned my head on the imaginary mattress to see Aura watching the stars with me, aglow and transparent like a wandering spirit from the heavens above. I reached out to her as the song came to an end and slightly disturbed the feathers on her chest making them ruffle a bit before she once again faded away like a candle losing its flame.

A theme song came on the radio for a few seconds and Poker Chip’s voice came through the radio waves, “Uuuuup and At ‘Em! Hello everypony and welcome to this late-night edition of Up and At ‘Em, I’m Poker Chip.

“I’m Bitmap.”

“Don’t forget about everyone’s favorite griffon! Kitty here!”

Poker Chip continued, “Yup we’re here once again bringing you news, music, and other forms of media that may or may not make you smile, laugh, or cry. Anyway, let’s talk about the latest reports around the area.”

Bitmap cleared his throat, “You always make me give the bad news. Why can’t you do it this time?”

I heard Poker Chip let out a soft chuckle, “Because I’m technically the boss, I can make you do anything.”

Bitmap sighed, “It’s not like you pay us or anything, but anyway here goes. Earlier this evening a contracted mercenary griffon was fatally shot by the newest edition of the infamous Seven Sins of Equinity, Pride just outside of The Kingdom. We aren’t sure about all of the details yet but reports from Kingdom medical staff say she perished around 9:30pm and was apparently a friend of The Courier, a heroic postal service worker from New Pegasus. This comes after Envy was sighted south of The Kingdom a day or two ago.”

Kitty sounded as if she was ready to cry, “That’s so sad, and to think you knew this news and played songs like that on the radio before the show. Didn’t you think about her friends who lost her and how they felt?”

Poker Chip answered with, “Ppfftt…of course we did, we’re not heartless. Accepting is the first part of the grieving process, we were just trying to move that process along a little. When a friend of mine died music helped me get through it and kept me from drowning myself in sorrow. Believe me, my heart goes out to The Courier and her friends. Loss isn’t an easy thing to deal with, even in the death hungry Wasteland. Anyway, we should move on.”

“Alright then,” Bitmap continued, “There’s also been word that groups of Enclave soldiers have gathered around Mill City Tower as added security for an upcoming meeting.”

Poker Chip interrupted, “They must be preparing for something and someone big if they have that much security around the tower. I know Nightshade the new Council Pony is going to be there, but with so much security I’m sure there’s going to be more Enclave officials there. The question is why they would meet there and not in the clouds?”

Kitty spoke up, “Maybe it’s the safest place to do so without the risk of eavesdropping, or at least a decreased risk. C’mon, you know someone’s bound to eavesdrop no matter what their allegiances are to The Grand Pegasus Enclave. If I were to guess, it’s probably about something horrible like wiping out Whinnieapolis for good to get rid of the crime problem there.”

Bitmap finally got to speak again and said, “I don’t think they’d further destroy that craphole.”

Kitty sighed, “That’s not what I meant by wipe out. What I meant was a kind of epic purge of the incredible amount of gang members, raiders, and other criminals that populate the city.”

Poker Chip must’ve been close to his microphone because I could swear I heard him scratching his chin, “Hmm, to be honest that’s not the worst idea they’ve had and I actually have no problem with it. The concerning part though is that it’s still The Enclave so they probably won’t stop at criminals, they’ll probably kill some of the innocent citizens that live in that murderous place. Who knows, maybe they’ll get rid of the M.C.N.T. guys. I don’t like thinking about the impending demise of other radio hosts, but they need to get taken off the air somehow.”

Kitty scoffed, “I can’t believe you’d say something like that! Shame on you Poker Chip! I’m surprised Bitmap didn’t say anything before I did.”

Bitmap sounded like he was stammering a bit, “Well…it’s not like it can be helped. They’re the idiots that broadcast from that crime-riddled place.”

“BITMAP!” Kitty exclaimed, “I can’t believe you two! You guys are cruel!”

Poker Chip sighed, “Sorry Kitty, I guess broadcasting news for so many years like we have has turned us a bit cold. So, moving on from that shameful subject. Reports from up north near Branch say there’s been an explosion in a drug lab near the grain silos in the center of the town. Luckily none of the resulting flames reached the silos, but there were some fatalities, one of them being a local drug dealer and manufacturer by the name of Chemical Ice. According to residents of Branch he wasn’t just a normal drug dealer but also the town’s pharmacist. I guess sometimes ponies can have both a good side and a bad side, if you can call a pharmacist that also deals addicting drugs good.”

“Yeah, if you think about it, he could’ve been adding something into the meds he sold as a pharmacist to get more customers on the other side of his business,” Bitmap said.

“Well there’s always a chance that both businesses were completely legitimate,” Kitty said.

Poker Chip cleared his throat a bit, “Yeah but operation of a drug lab with a chance of explosion so close to the grain silos was pretty careless. If anything made a spark or set fire within a certain distance of those things, bye-bye Branch. The whole town would be blown to smithereens, wiped off the map, turned to dust. With how big those things are, they could have the potential to cause an explosion so massive that it rivals the megaspells of the war.”

Kitty gasped, “What, really!? Those things could blow up and cause destruction like that?”

Bitmap answered before Poker Chip could, “That’s right. In fact before the war, those silos exploded after some teenagers decided to hide behind them to spark up some questionable zebra herbs and get stoned. Before it was called Branch it was called by a different name, but unfortunately I don’t know what it’s previous name was. All I know is that they were about half-full and caused a massive explosion that wiped out most of the town.”

Kitty sighed once more, “Gee, that’s just terrible. Why are teenagers so ignorant? Didn’t they teach them that the molecules released into the air by grain is highly reactive to the excited electrons in sparks and fire?”

Poker Chip laughed, “Hahaha, yeah they probably did but they clearly didn’t listen as well as you must’ve when learning about it. Anyway, it looks like that’s all the time we have Twin Cities. This has been Up and At ‘Em, thanks for listening and stay safe out there. Coming up next is a track we can all bob our heads to, Instant Attraction by Daft Pony the dynamic duo from Prance. Enjoy!”

The song that came on was another love song about one lover losing the other (those assholes). However, it was a good song, I especially loved the beat at the chorus.

I thought about what they said about the silos in Branch, I guess I’m not the only one that causes destruction out in The Wasteland. Seems like there’s some ponies out there a lot dumber than I am, which seems a bit hard to believe with the mistakes I’ve made. Half the time I cause mayhem by looking at something and saying “Ooo, what does this button do?” or by making the wrong decision morally.

I also thought about Mill City Tower, where Poker Chip and the other two said Nightshade would be. With increased security like they were talking about I had no idea how I was gonna get into the building to exact my revenge on Stardust and Nightshade for what they put me through. I might be able to snipe them with Stardust’s rifle from another building. Wait that won’t work, I’m an idiot, that’s the only super tall building in Whinnieapolis. I doubt I’d be able to sneak past the Enclave troops on the ground, let alone in the sky. I’ll think of something, or maybe just run in guns blazing, “Ugh, why is this so hard!?”

“Why is what so hard?” the caravaneer asked.

“Oh nothing, just trying to come up with a plan of sorts,” I replied nonchalantly.

“Maybe I can help,” he retorted.

“Not with this you can’t. I don’t want to involve somepony innocent in what I’m doing,” I said solemnly.

“I see. So you’re planning on doing something really bad huh?” he asked trying to guess.

“Not really bad, just very-very, bloody,” I replied trying to quickly satisfy his curiosity.

“Oh, you some kind of merc?” he asked again.

“No, just a Courier delivering a package that contains death. Don’t worry, that’s metaphorical; I’m not carrying a bomb or anything,” I explained.

“Well, I hope you keep safe in your endeavor. By the way we’re almost to the gates of Saint’s Parish, I just gotta make a little delivery in Scorchville. It’s a small settlement just a few miles outside of Saint’s Parish. I gotta warn you about something though, the residents there are a little weird,” he said.

“Weird how?” I asked.

He sighed, “How should I put this, they’re a cult that follows some autonomous robot. I don’t know why they do it but the robot seems friendly enough and they’ve never attacked me.”

And here I thought there were strange ponies in The Marejave, these ponies follow a robot for Goddesses sake. It must be some robot, “How long is this stop gonna take?”

“Shouldn’t take more than an hour. It’s the middle of the night but the town should still have ponies around to receive their supply deliveries. Honestly, I don’t think they ever sleep but I know that’s impossible, everypony has to sleep,” he replied.

I sighed at the minor inconvenience, “Alright, I guess I’ll take a little while to myself, maybe check out this robot they’re all so fond of.”

Scorchville wasn’t what I expected, something that was starting to happen a lot as of late. It was supposed to be an abandon town that was recently populated by the robot and the cult that followed, but it looked pretty lively for being recently settled. The caravaneer was unloading supplies from the wagon as I started to stroll through the little town. I was growing increasingly more curious about this so-called robot they all followed but couldn’t find it anywhere. It was like trying to find a lost foal in a giant crowd of roided-out muscle-heads.

I walked over to one of the ponies waiting by what looked like the door to his home and asked, “Where’s this robot I’ve heard so much about?”

His face brightened up, “Oh!? You’re looking for Serendipity? Not to worry, she will find you if you are looking for her.”

“She? Her? Isn’t she a robot?” wait a sec, if I referred to all robots as ‘it’ then I might as well not call Watts ‘he’ or ‘him’.

“She may be a robot but she has the voice and characteristics of a mare. I assure you that Serendipity is a ‘she’,” he replied simply.

I let out a bit of an annoyed sigh, “You said she’d find me if I was looking for her. How is she gonna do that if she doesn’t know where or who I am?”

He smiled, “That’s something you’ll soon find out for yourself when she eventually comes to meet you.”

Ugh…these ponies aren’t just nuts for following a robot, they’re complete morons too. I said goodbye as kindly as I could without being a bitch and walked away to sit on a nearby bench by the cracked and crumbled street. I yawned and checked the time on my Pip-Buck, “3:13am, how the hell are these ponies still awake?” suddenly I felt a presence behind me and turned around, “AHHH! How long have you been standing there!?”

“You’re about to do something catastrophically deadly in Whinnieapolis,” the robotic pony said. She had a miraculously well-designed exterior, her body looked like it was made of engraved ivory and some gold detailing. I looked down to her hooves to search for where a strange sound was coming from and saw that her knees had pistons working in them, it was probably how she was able to move. I looked back at her glowing orange eyes somewhat hiding behind the black silk that made up her mane, “You must be Serendipity.”

“That’s correct, I’m Serendipity, a prototype Crusader Mainframe. You’re Shadow Star, The Courier from New Pegasus. You’re here waiting for the caravan to be ready to leave again so you can kill Nightshade in Mill City Tower,” she said surprising the hell out of me.

Baffled I asked, “How…”

“How did I know all that?” she interrupted, “Let’s just say I know what’s gonna happen before you do.”

“Am I going to…” I started to ask before she interrupted again.

“Sorry, I can’t tell you if you’re gonna kill Stardust or Nightshade or not. It’s not because I don’t know, it’s because nopony should know too much about their own future. There could be terrible consequences resulting in a singularity that would swallow up all of Equis meaning it’s destruction. However, I can say that you’ll do something catastrophic at Mill City Tower,” this constant interruption was starting to get on my nerves.

I sighed, “If you wouldn’t mind, can you please stop interrupting me? It’s a bit rude and I prefer to ask complete questions before getting an answer.”

I watched the gears in her pupils turn as I waited for an answer, “Yes, I can do that. Actually, I knew you were gonna ask that but since I did, I decided it would be better to let you ask anyway.”

“Kaaayyyyy, moving on now. Why do these ponies follow you?” I asked trying to wrap my head around the whole cult thing.

“They worship my ability to predict future happenings at a rate of 99.9%. I don’t really mind them following me around, but sometimes it can be problematic. Due to them technically being a cult, they sometimes get targeted by different factions until the ones targeting them realize what their cult is all about. Sometimes when that happens more ponies join them. Incarnate Torch, the stallion who maintains my body thinks they’re imbeciles,” Serendipity replied.

“Is he the one that created you? Incarnate Torch I mean,” I asked.

“No, I didn’t create her,” another pony said from next to me.

“Goddesses! Would ponies stop sneaking up on me like that!” I exclaimed almost comically.

He gave me a look, “What are you talking about? I’ve been here the whole time, you just didn’t notice. Anyway, no, I didn’t create Serendipity. I wish I would’ve because whoever created her was a genius. A completely mobile, self-sustaining, future predictive, crusader mainframe is nothing short of amazing. A long time ago she passed by where I was living at the time and I took immediate fascination with her beautifully crafted circuits.”

This was starting to go a little bit over my head, “So, you became a cultist to follow her because you like her circuits? Don’t you think that sounds a bit strange?”

He gave me the look that told me I should start wearing a sign that says ‘I’m Stupid’ so that ponies know not to rely on my brainpower, “Not at all, and correction, I am not a cultist. I have nothing to do with those worshiping morons who think of her as some sort of robot Goddess. I follow her so that I can learn more about her abilities to predict the future and conduct maintenance whenever she needs it.”

“So you’re a robot repair pony like from before the war?” I asked sounding like a giant idiot. Of course that’s what he was, what else would he be, her fucking butler?

“Sort of, but Serendipity isn’t just a simple robot; her maintenance requires skill and finesse in order not to damage her in any way. I know I’m at least doing something right because if I wasn’t she wouldn’t let me work on her because she can predict if something is going to hurt or destroy her,” he explained.

“Cool, so she’s like a super-calculator,” I said casually.

“Not necessarily. A super-calculator is a massive computer system that runs off of the energy produced by a special kind of spark battery and requires constant cooling via liquid nitrogen chambers. She’s almost nothing like a super-calculator except for the massive computing power she possesses to process the data used in predicting future events,” he explained further.

I hate feeling like a dumbass in front of smart ponies…and robots I guess, “Okay my slightly tired brain is starting to hurt from trying to absorb all this information. Anyway, one more question for you Serendipity. Why do you travel from place to place? From what I’ve gathered from everypony here you travel The Wasteland.”

She looked at me as if I asked a strange question, which is surprising because I was pretty sure she already knew what I was gonna ask. Maybe it was that 0.01% that predicted wrong, “I’m looking for my creator. I know he isn’t dead even though it’s been a long time since the war ended, he’s what you call a ghoul. Unfortunately, he programmed me so I wouldn’t know who he is until I eventually figured it out or he told me.”

“Why would he do something like that?” I asked, prying a bit.

“Well, it’s not as bad as you think. He programmed me that way to enhance my learning ability to figure out problems on my own while in turn evolving my predictive abilities. Also, I believe that I was a secret project he was working on when I was created and if asked I wouldn’t know what his name was. I used to know what he looked like but before he disappeared after the war, he wiped his features from my memory for some reason,” Serendipity explained in detail.

“Sound like a dick to me,” I commented casually.

She looked like she was smiling, “Not really, more annoying than anything, or at least a pony like you would think he was annoying.”

I looked around and studied the town again, “Why’d you decide to settle here in Scorchville?”

She sighed, which I didn’t know a robot could do, “So I could meet you. I was originally going to go quite a bit south of The Kingdom but there was a higher probability that you would be passing through here instead of there. The probability changed when you did something to further upset The Seven Sins of Equinity and subsequently followed by Envy. However, you did stop in the first place I predicted but weren’t conscious at the time, well not the whole time.”

It’s amazing that she knew I wasn’t conscious when we stopped to change the spark batteries in the sky carriage, “I was watching a memory orb when we stopped but I was out of one for a couple minutes when we were there. I suppose that amount of time wouldn’t have been enough for you to determine that it was a better place to meet me. By the way, why did you wanna meet me?”

“That’s an easy one, because I’m 85.7% sure you’ve met my creator at least once. Unfortunately, it seems he didn’t tell you about me when and if you met him, I know because you aren’t going to say anything anytime soon about knowing who he is,” she replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Anyway, it looks like the caravan is about to leave so I should get going. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime in New Pegasus,” I said as I arose from the bench.

She turned to walk away and said, “You will see me again very soon. Goodbye for now Courier and be weary of your choices in the future.”

As I walked to the wagon I thought about a ghoul that I’ve met recently that could be her creator. The only two I could come up with were Mr. Tops and Nexus. Mr. Tops I didn’t find annoying but two-hundred years can change a pony, but then there was the fact that he wasn’t a ghoul, or at least he said he wasn’t. Nexus on the other hoof was excruciatingly annoying at times but I don’t think he’s smart enough to have created something like Serendipity. Plus, with how much he loves his tech he would’ve probably gloated about it or sent me on a mission to find her. She said I’d see her again very soon, maybe then I’ll have her answer, at least she helped take my mind off of things for a little while.

As the caravaneer hooked up to the wagon I crawled back into the rear of the wagon and decided to sleep a little before we got to Saint’s Parish.

“How was your day at work Stardust? From the look on your face it seems like it sucked balls,” I asked as me, Aura, and Stardust sat at the counter of a bar.

“Ugh, work was fine I guess. Designing weapons isn’t that hard or anything but my sister has to work in the same area I do and get on my ass all day about when I’m finally gonna settle down and start a family. I’m not the domesticated type, I work to get money and that’s about it. I pay rent and blow the rest of my pay on food and random shit I don’t really need,” he replied glumly.

“You have a sister?” Aura asked.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, “Yeah, technically I guess. You knew that already though, she’s the annoying spawn of my birth parents after I was given up for adoption. When I searched them out she was the first pony to turn up. Goddesses I hate explaining things more than once.”

“You didn’t tell me anything about it,” I said now curious about who this mysterious pony was.

“Bull, I told you about it when I first started searching for my real family. You were the one that agreed with Aura that there was no way Doorstop could be my real father because of all the strange verbal abuse and gay jokes,” he explained.

Aura started to snicker and almost spit out her drink, “It’s not like you’ve had a marefriend recently, so I could see why he says things like that.”

“Correction, I’ve been trying to get Shortcake to go on a date with me for the past six months to no avail. Just because a mare won’t go out with me doesn’t make me what he calls a fruit,” he retorted, taking a sip of his rum and cola.

Then from behind me Doorstop boomed, “Are you sayin’ you ain’t no dick suckin’ flower after all!?”

Stardust put his hooves up and exclaimed, “YES!”

“Bullshit, I bet you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose! If you ever shout at me like that without preparing for some kind of retribution, I’ll make sure you never forget to again. When you were still in high school I was gonna try and straighten out your attitude with a little in-your-face discipline but you’re too damn tall. Then I thought to myself ‘maybe life will help you learn some respect with some hard-dirty work’ but then I realized a sissy like you couldn’t handle a dirty job because they don’t stack shit that high,” Doorstop retorted.

I sat there with my mouth hanging open, “I can’t believe they actually let somepony like you adopt a foal.”

He turned on me, “I wasn’t always like this, I actually used to smile out of joy, not sick humor brought on by bringing down his ego a peg or two.”

Aura smiled from the other side of Stardust, “I wish I could bring down his ego like that, maybe he’d be a little more tolerable.”

Stardust rounded on Aura and said, “BANG! You’re dead, should’ve expected retribution…”

At that my eyes locked on Aura as blood started soaking her feathers and dripped from her beak. Everything went black except for her and she said, “Why couldn’t you save me Shadow?”

Okay this is seriously FUCKED! The fuck is going on? Why was I at a bar? I need to get Aura some help, a doctor, a hospital, something. Suddenly she was lying in my hooves bleeding out and we were both covered in dirt, grime, and her blood as I heard a strange beeping coming from somewhere. The beeping sped up as she raised her talon to touch my face and then the beep became a solid sound as Aura’s talon went limp.

“Aaahhh! No!” I shouted as I awoke from my not so peaceful slumber in the back of the wagon.

“You alright back there?” the caravaneer asked.

I sniffed and wiped a mix of tears and sweat from my face, “I’m fine, just a nightmare is all.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that. You wanna talk about it?” he asked as if he was genuinely interested in my problems.

“No, you probably wouldn’t understand,” I replied.

“Okay then,” he said.

“Sorry, it’s just a bit private is all,” I said solemnly.

“It’s alright, I have my own things I don’t wanna talk about.”

“Oh, I guess The Wasteland has more targets than just me. Are we almost there?” I asked as I looked out through the little hole, quickly getting my answer.

“Yeah we’re here, just waiting in the entrance line into Saint’s Parish. Caravan routes are pretty busy this time of year so the line is pretty long,” he replied.

“I think it’s time we part ways, I shouldn’t go into Saint’s Parish without my friends. In there I’m sure there are Enclave patrols just waiting for someone to do something so they can enforce the law, and I’m wanted by The Enclave. Not sure a fugitive would be able to get through there so easily,” I said as I started gathering my things.

He scratched his head, “That’s fine with me and all but if you’re heading for Mill City then you’ll have to go through Saint’s Parish.”

“But don’t they do cart checks at the entrances?” I asked.

“Right, I almost forgot about that. They use some pretty invasive scanners to check the carts which means you probably won’t be able to hide anywhere back there,” he answered.

I thought about what I could do to get through the city and to the easier route into Whinnieapolis, but everything I came up with sounded either like suicide, or just extremely moronic. I couldn’t just dress up as a bush and sneak step by step through the metropolis, “Is there any other easy way to get to Whinnieapolis from here?”

He looked lost in thought for a moment, “I suppose you could walk along the wall of Saint’s Parish. If you do though I’d suggest you stick pretty close to it, there’s guard towers along the walls every five hundred feet or so. If you’re walking too far away from the wall, the guards are bound to see you. It might still be dark, but not for long; plus they have night vision installed in their helmets so they’ll see you no matter how dark your coat is.”

I thought about the way he suggested for a bit and made my decision, “I think I’m gonna go along the wall. It’s too risky to try sneaking in and through Saint’s Parish. Also there’s the fact that it’s a shorter route considering Saint’s Parish doesn’t completely go under the south side of Whinnieapolis, just part-way.”

“You’re right about that one, although it would bring you closer to Mill City Tower if you risked going through Saint’s Parish,” he explained.

“I think it’s best that I don’t go through the city, I’ll take my chances going around. Anyway I should go now while I’m still out of sight of the gate guards, so I’ll be seeing ya then,” I said as I hopped out of the back of the wagon.

“Alright, your choice is your choice, safe travels,” he responded as I started to walk along the large wall.

I wish this fucking duster wasn’t made in the Goddesses damned desert where it’s hot all the time. Holy Princess Luna’s frozen glass dildo it’s fucking cold out here, I hate the Midwest. I checked my Pip-Buck to see what the current temperature was and the answer surprised me, “It’s only fifty-five degrees? I’m pretty sure it gets colder at night in the Marejave. Must be all this damn moisture in the air that’s getting to me,” great, talking to myself again. Maybe it’ll get warmer as the morning passes. The sun may not be visible during the day but some warmth gets through the thick cloud layer.

I could tell the sun would be coming up soon because the sky was slightly brighter in the east, and it was already past 6:00am. I just hope it gets at least a little warmer, my body hasn’t acclimated to this climate yet and I don’t wanna have to look forward to freezing my ass off every night. Honestly it’s tolerable enough to be able to ignore it for a while, but when the wind blows I get plastered with chills.

I flipped on the radio again to take my mind off of not just the cold but that I was also thinking about Aura again. I quickly switched off the radio when I remembered the guard ponies along the wall, I wouldn’t wanna catch their attention and get caught. Getting myself captured by them because of my own stupidity would totally defeat the purpose of not giving myself up to Stardust. Ugh, Stardust, I keep thinking about what I’m about to do to him and then memories of our travels together come flooding in. The day I met him he was the most sarcastic dickhead I’d ever met, but then over time he became the best friend I thought I couldn’t live without. What if I can’t pull the trigger? What if he ends up killing me and then the others? There’s no way of knowing what will happen, unless of course I was like Serendipity.

As I walked I saw the old milling city, it looked more ruined up close than it did at a distance, “Geez, what a dump,” I said to myself as I walked. In all honestly it was, it looked like all the gang violence, blast damage from the war, and constant weathering from the rain really took a toll on the old city. I could see an old stadium protruding from the skyline, there were still old ads on it that read ‘Whinnieapolis Is Our Turf! Don’t Mess With The Wolves!’ which must’ve been some leftover sports propaganda. What was worse was the smell in the air from the nearby river, it smelled like straight-up sewage. It was probably heavily polluted like most of the water in The Wasteland but with the added disgustingness of mill gunk.

There were other things that caught my eye in the city that weren’t so bad. Down the river I could see variously designed road and hoof bridges. The sight made me realize that the city probably used to be a beautiful bustling place before it was annihilated by war and what it wrought.

As I came to the curve of the wall I looked up at the guard pony at the top. It was hard to see since his post was so high up but he appeared to not be looking in the direction I needed to go, so I made a run for the nearby road bridge while I could. As I broke into a gallop I heard shots land near my rear hooves, I didn’t stop to return fire and risk getting more ponies involved. I was pretty sure he’d eventually give up and figure I was just another random Wastelander.

Unfortunately, he started to pursue me across the bridge that towered over The Great Equestria River. I took cover behind one of the pieces of concrete wall from the walking path alongside the road that had to have been knocked aside years before. I pulled out Stardust’s rifle and slipped into S.A.T.S., targeting three shots to his torso. They all bounced off of his armor as he flew closer, “Just let me pass! I’m no threat to you!” I shouted up to him.

“You match the description of a wanted fugitive that’s guilty of crimes against The Grand Pegasus Enclave. Surrender or be killed where you stand,” he replied as he aimed his rifle at me.

“I think this is a case of mistaken identity. You see, I’m on my way to Mill City Tower to meet with Nightshade. If I’m not there in time and found dead, it’ll be you who gets blamed for it. I suggest you let me pass or find out what it means to be fired by The Enclave.”

He lowered his gun a bit, “If that’s true then who are you?”

Shit, c’mon brain, think of a believable lie, “I’m Envy you moron, I took the form of The Courier to cause havoc around here and get ponies not to trust her. She’s made quite a name for herself in the west, but here she’s nopony.”

“Fine then, change back to your real form,” he said condescendingly.

I have to think of something fast if I was gonna get out of this predicament, I have to think like Envy. Cruel and insulting, “Listen you poor excuse for a worm. Do you know how hard it is for me to change forms? Not to mention that it would blow my cover for anypony that might be watching us right now. I can’t believe they let an idiot like you into The Enclave, maybe that’s why they gave you shitty guard duty. However, I guess I could shift into a dragon and bake you in your armor. It might blow my cover but I could easily sniff out anyone close by and eliminate them.”

“Alright Fine, you can pass. I don’t feel like dying by the hooves of a Sin anytime soon.”

Yes! It worked! I’m a fucking genius! “Good, at least you’re not as stupid as you look,” I don’t know what he looks like but it sounded like something Envy would say.

I started walking across the bridge again as he flew back to his post. Water from the river rushed under it as it clashed with rocks, water misted on my face. My Pip-Buck clicked every time I felt a sprinkle of the disgusting water touch me, but I didn’t walk any faster. Right now, things like radiation were the least of my issues to worry about. All I cared about was exacting revenge for my dead friend and completely annihilating The Enclave in any way I could. Ahead of me was a treacherous place filled with violence, despair, gangs, and the smell of decay, but behind me wasn’t much better. Somepony like me walking into Saint’s Parish is surely certain death, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. This whole place was a living hell and a river of death ran through it.

As I approached the other end of the bridge I saw a sign that read ‘Welcome to Whinnieapolis’, under the name of the city the word ‘Murderapolis’ was sprayed in red paint, “I guess this place is pretty well known for something, I hope it’s nice here,” I said to myself sarcastically.

Then a voice said from behind me, “You can’t be serious. Whinnieapolis is a hellhole.”

I turned to look at the floating robot, “It’s been a while Watcher, been busy, or could you just not find me?”

“Let’s just say you’re not the only pony to come out of a stable and cause havoc for others in The Wasteland,” he replied awkwardly, “Where are your friends? I thought you always traveled with at least one of them.”

I gritted my teeth but held back my anger as I answered him, “Two of them are dead, one of them is brainwashed, and the others are probably hopelessly worrying about me back in The Kingdom. I came here alone for vengeance, I want to kill the ones responsible for killing off my friends one-by-one.”

He sighed, “Maybe I was wrong about you when we first met. Just a few weeks ago, you looked so innocent and lost that I wanted to help you find your way. I was proud when you saved those foals from that swarm of poisonous insects, but to see you now and hear that all you seek is vengeance, it’s disappointing.”

I scoffed, “Sorry I’m such a disappointment to somepony who won’t even come and talk to me face to face. What kind of coward hacks into robots to try and motivate ponies fresh out of stables anyway?”

“The kind of coward that has something important to protect. Unlike you, I don’t think about getting revenge for my dead friends. Not because I don’t want revenge, but because it would be useless. Things like that cause further misery and more destruction, both self-destruction and physical destruction. Ponies or any other race that think revenge is the answer, are the reason The Wasteland is as bad as it is. Radiation, taint, and mutated monsters are just icing on the cake,” he replied sternly.

I can’t believe he just compared me to the fucking Wasteland, “So I’m just another hole in the head for the world now, is that it? Everyone I care about dies and I’m just supposed to blow it off like you to be considered morally acceptable? What kind of horrible fucked up bullshit logic is that huh?”

“The reasonable kind that keeps ponies sane,” he said solemnly, “A long time ago, six of my best friends died, one of whom I loved dearly and another who was like a mother to me. For the longest time I sought to avenge their deaths by killing the parties responsible, but after taking countless lives I realized it was in vain. No amount of killing would bring my friends back.”

I am such a bitch. I didn’t even think about him losing anypony in the past, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“That you’re not the only pony with something to lose?” he interrupted.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was just so frustrated that I didn’t even think about what you must’ve lost over the years out here. I was never cut-out to be what I am, all I was ever good at was being the depressed orphan filly who couldn’t stand up for herself in front of authority,” I replied.

“Yeah, I heard about Stable 28, quite the bloodbath. Something about it makes me think it’s part of why you’re taking this path. The way ponies are talking about how you cast out the former Overmare and watched her get eaten by ghouls, and you didn’t even put her out of her misery,” he said flatly as the robot bobbed up and down.

“She got what she deserved in the end; ponies like her need to be cleansed from this world. This world is rotten, all it brings is death and misery upon the dwellers that live in it. Death is the only rightful punishment for anypony who kills, whether it be for caps, hunger, murder, or for their own personal gain,” I said in the most serious tone I could without yelling in his metal face.

He sighed again, “By that logic you’re no better than them. How many ponies did you kill and for what reason?”

I froze at that, did watcher somehow find out about my clash with Pride and the innocent ponies in Appleton. “What do you mean watcher? Why did you say it like that.”

The sprite-bot watcher was using to communicate with me bobbed up and down before he answered. “I hope someday you’ll see that the path you’ve chosen is the wrong one, but for now you’re blinded with rage like I used to be. Open your eyes and take a look at yourself, then tell me that you’re not becoming the thing you want to destroy.”

“I will NEVER be a senseless murderer like the rest of The Wasteland!” I yelled.

I can hear a chuckle come from him though it sounded tinny “We’ll see. Shadow If you continue to…” he started to say before jaunty tunes came out of the sprite-bot again.

“Always conveniently getting cut-off aren’t you Watcher,” I said quietly to myself as I turned around and kept walking toward my goal.

The inner city was just as horrible as the outside, it looked, dark, dank, and decrepit. I’ve already killed at least three groups of raiders and a small gathering of zebra gangsters who were effectively doing what I found out was called ‘curb stomping’ a random stallion. I wasn’t able to save him because his head was essentially a pile of chunky brain matter and pieces of skull, but he did have some ammunition I could use and a healing potion or two.

It was finally starting to get warmer now, either that or I was getting used to the temperature. The faint light coming through the clouds cast shadows off of the buildings giving the illusion that it was still early morning, but it was now getting closer to noon. If I don’t make it to Mill City Tower in time, I might miss my opportunity to strike. I could see the massive spire in the distance towering over me like it was trying to intimidate me into turning around. As I looked at it I thought about what Watcher said. I tried putting his words out of my head but they kept worming their way back in and making me overthink what was to come.

Back in Scorchville, that robot Serendipity said I was going to do something catastrophically deadly, and now Watcher was saying I’m heading down the path of evil like what I sought to destroy. Could they be right? Am I turning into a monster? In a way I guess I am a monster, Aquila is sitting back waiting for her moment to break through the barrier again and kill everything in sight. Is that what Serendipity was talking about when she said I was gonna do something horrible in Whinnieapolis? Is she finally gonna take over for good, or is it what I’m about to do that’s the bad thing?

Fighting with my own thoughts isn’t getting me anywhere. All it’s doing is giving me cold hooves about going to Mill City Tower and confusing me to no end. If I do what I plan on doing, it means completely giving up on my best friend, but it also means vitally hurting The Enclave. I know I’ve already said that there’s no saving Stardust, but something deep down is telling me that I should still try to save him if I can. The thing that’s bothering me about it though is that I have no idea how to get him to that stupid memory machine in Stable 97 without dying in the process or killing him by accident when trying to incapacitate him.

I should’ve brought somepony with me instead of running off on my own, I can guarantee they think I’m either dead, or doing something stupid. I think I’ll go with the latter. Stupid is what I’m good at, why stop now?

“Hey yo, lil filly. You lookin’ a bit lost, anythin’ I could do to help?” a pony, wait no, a zebra asked from behind me. His voice was strange, he didn’t have the normal accent most zebras I’ve met have.

“Why should I trust you? With my luck you’ll probably lure me back to some friends of yours so you can make a game out of killing me. Trying to hurt me is something I’m going to advise you against doing, it’ll end badly for you and your friends,” I replied.

He smiled like I wasn’t serious, “Nah, nuttin’ like that. I ain’t one of those marks, thinkin’ I’m some sorta badass cause I’m in a gang. I just live around here with my momma and saw ya when I was scavenging for some things. My name’s Khalid, what’s yours?”

I thought about my answer for a second, he seemed pretty innocent, but ponies like Envy have deceived me before, “Shadow Star, that’s my name. I’m a courier delivering a package to Mill City Tower.”

He laughed again, “Yeah, sure ya are. Ain’t nopony go to Mill City Tower for nuttin’ like that. Only reason ponies or sometimes zebras like yours truly go there is to try somethin’ stupid, like bustin’ a cap in a few of them Enclave muthafuckas. I’ll tell ya right now that it’s suicide tryin’ to do that, but I ain’t gonna stop ya; suicide is your choice.”

Something about him reminded me of Stardust before he got taken, maybe it was the way he referred to himself as ‘yours truly’, “You’re a perceptive one, yeah I’m gonna try my hoof at assassinating Nightshade and possibly Pride of The Seven Sins. The only difference between me and other ponies who’ve tried doing something equally as dumb is that I’m known for being heroic in the west. They call me The Courier where I’m from and apparently a good guy in the eyes of the citizens of The Marejave Wasteland.”

“You gotta be shittin’ wit’ me right now, YOU’RE The Courier? Tiny lil bitch like you? I must be trippin’ err somethin’ to be hearin’ this shit,” he said as he dramatically grabbed both sides of his head with his hooves.

I sighed, “Yes I’m The Courier, so what?”

He stopped what he was doing and replied, “I ain’t never heard of yo tiny ass.”

My jaw dropped straight to the ground, “You’ve never heard of me? Then what was all that just now?”

He smiled, “I was just messin’ witcha, that’s all. In a place like this it’s hard to get a laugh every once in a while cause everyone’s so damn depressed or wantin’ to cap one another over somthin’ stupid like turf. Tell ya what, since you’re apparently some great heroine, I’ll help ya get to Mill City Tower.”

“What’s the catch?” I asked.

He sighed and shook his head, “I dunno, it might be askin’ too much.”

I gave him an annoyed look and said, “Just spit it out.”

He sighed again, “Could ya help me and my momma get to The Kingdom? I can handle myself just fine in The Wastes, but my momma ain’t like me. She don’t have the confidence to jump on outta here and risk upsetting our local gang leader. She’s also not much use when it comes to a lil ol’ clap clap neither if ya know what I mean. She couldn’t smoke the broad side of a barn with a gat if she tried.”

I gaped at him like an idiot, “What? Clap clap? Smoking a barn? Gat? I don’t follow.

He shook his head, “She ain’t one for conflict and can’t shoot shit if she tried. Now are ya gonna help me or what?”

“Sure, I’ll see what I can do about getting you and your mother to The Kingdom. That’s if I survive what happens at Mill City Tower in the next few hours,” I replied, thinking that if anything I can most likely just find a caravaneer for them to ride with outside of the city.

He rushed over to me and hugged me, “Thank you so much, I can’t wait to tell my momma we goin’ to The Kingdom and gettin’ outta this shithole.”

I gingerly pushed him away as not to offend him, “You said you could hold your own in a fight, how good?”

He had that weird ‘aw shucks’ look and honestly it didn’t suit a zebra such as himself, it looked weird. Then his demeanor totally changed to a false tough guy exterior, “Killin’ bad guys be my business, and business be fuckin’ crackin’.”

It was one of those moments where my mouth moved before my brain could tell it what to say, “So are you a bounty hunter or a mercenary err something?”

His reaction was priceless, “WHAT!? Nah, I ain’t nothin’ like that, I just know how not to get shot when bullets fly. Had to learn how on account of the OGs recruitin’ lil zebras and such; if ya refuse to join the gang then you’re likely to be killed instead. As a matter of fact, I know where in the area they operate so we can go on a bit of a detour from the way you’re headin’.”

“Detour?” I asked.

“Y’know, goin’ around the gang infested areas so we can avoid gettin’ in a skirmish with ‘em. The way you’re goin’ spells all kinds of trouble for ya, you probably would’ve walked right into their territory and gotten capped because they don’t like ponies so much. They especially hate them Enclave assholes cause they’re tryin’ to run them outta their turf,” he replied as he started leading me onward toward the tower.

“Oh, I get it now. I’m glad I crossed paths with you Khalid; I probably would’ve been late for my quote on quote delivery,” I said.

He smiled, “Yeah, you’re deliverin’ somethin’ alright; a message to those muthafuckas in the sky that think they can push us around like lil bitches and expect us to follow their rules. No offense about the lil thing, I ain’t making fun of your height. It’s just a figure of speech is all.

Northern Wastelanders and their figures of speech, “It’s fine, a good friend of mine used to call me all sorts of names regarding my height. I’m used to things like that, in fact I miss being called shrimp and half pint by two of my friends.”

“Miss? They go somewhere?” he asked.

“Sort of…one passed away last night, and the other is out of his mind,” I replied somberly.

He looked shocked, “What? Last night?”

“Yeah, my other friend, he fatally injured her in battle and she died without knowing how much I cared about her,” I said holding back tears.

He looked away, “That’s some fucked up shit right there. This other friend of yours must be seriously wacked if he’d go and do somethin’ like that. Reminds me of what happened to my father. See, when I was real young, the gang that controls the area we live in now was just gaining territory there. They tried recruiting him and his best friend Karim, but he said no. Then one day Karim comes to my home with my dad on his back and said he was murdered by the OGs for refusing them. Later I found out that it was Karim that killed him, as initiation into the gang.”

First, he comes on so strong with how much he loves his mom, and now he’s telling me this. Damn he was pulling on my heart strings hard, I wanted to give him a hug so badly, “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. How could he kill his own best friend like that?”

He sighed and looked down at his hooves as he walked, “I dunno, but he didn’t last much longer after that. One of the other gangs set up a meetin’ with a couple of the OGs to discuss terms err some shit and it ended up bein’ a trap. They set some fragile boards on top of a hole filled with taint and covered it with dirt. When they all came to the meetin’ and gathered on that area, the board broke and they all fell in. Muthafucka deserved worse for what he did.”

“At least he got what was coming to him in the end,” I said trying to lift his spirits a little.

He looked straight ahead again as he said, “Yeah, but I wish I could’ve capped the muthafucka myself. I guess it’s all for the best that he went out the way he did though, instead of me doin’ it at only twelve years old. If I would’ve done the deed, I’m sure I would’ve turned out a lot worse.”

That got me thinking again about my situation, I needed a distraction, “OG, what is that? You keep mentioning them and I have no idea what they are.”

“They’re called original gangters and they’re members of the gang from when it was founded or somethin’ like that, I was never really sure myself cause I don’t roll with any gangs. All I know is that they have quite a bit of control in the gang,” he explained.

“Oh, that makes sense I guess. Why didn’t you ever join a gang?”

He gave me a funny look, “The violence in this city is what keeps further destroying it and I don’t wanna be a part of that. Plus, there’s the fact that it’d kill my momma if I joined a gang, and I love my momma, I don’t wanna disappoint her like that.”

“I wish it was the same with my mother, she’s like my friend. She doesn’t even remember that I’m her daughter. The worst part is that she’s tried to kill or have me killed on multiple occasions, and I remember how sweet she used to be when I was a filly, before she left me in that stable.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, I dunno what I’d do if my momma ever did somethin’ like that. Also, did you just say you were in a stable?” he said as we both climbed over a large piece of concrete that must’ve fallen off of a building ages ago.

Shit, I didn’t want to say anything too personal about myself like that, “Uh, yeah…I grew up in a stable out west. My mother left when I was young to go on some important quest or mission; something I think she still hasn’t accomplished.”

“Damn, that sucks n’ all, but I seriously wish I could get MY momma to leave our shitty apartment at least every once in a while. Her excuse is that she don’t think it’s safe to step hoof out the door cause of what happened to my father. Imma get real witcha, I think she’s just too scared and would rather hide in that musty ass place until she dies. Anyway, what happened to your father, he wasn’t around err some shit?”

“He died when I was a foal according to my aunt that raised me after my mom left. They were both involved with a few different factions in the past, at least she was, I don’t know about my father. In reality though, I think that’s the thing that got him killed in the end,” I replied, still trying not to give too much information. I still didn’t know Khalid that well and if this really was a well calculated trap, too much detail might make things worse.

He nodded his head, “I see, you were even younger that I was when you lost your father. That’s gotta be pretty hard, I at least got to know my father before he died, but you didn’t even get the chance I did before he was taken from you.”

“What was your father like?” I asked.

“He was one of the good ones,” he replied solemnly, “He was never the type to get involved with any gangs or nuttin’ like that. He was a tribal zebra with a thick accent who only wanted to help ponies and other zebras in need. In a way I’m just like him, I don’t roll with gangs cause it’s stupid and pointless, and I try to help anyone I can.”

“Hearing what you just told me about him, you’re pretty closely matched. Thank you for helping me by the way.”

He smiled and waved his hoof, “Ain’t no skin off MY hide.”

As we walked I looked up at the skyline and noticed Mill City tower was getting a lot closer. Looks like letting him help me was a good idea in the long run, I didn’t have to keep stopping to shoot at random raiders or gangsters and get turned around, and I wasn’t getting constantly lost. If he didn’t have his mother to worry about, I might ask if he wanted to join us in our travels, but in the end he’d end up like some of the others who’ve traveled with me.

“Do you plan on anything once you and your mom get to The Kingdom?” I asked nonchalantly.

He shook his head as he replied, “I ain’t got any idea what I’m gonna do besides be there for my momma. I suppose I could figure somethin’ out, that’s if they got a job system there.”

“Yeah, they have…”

“Shhh…quiet for a sec. You hear that?” he interrupted.

I shook my head and said quietly, “No.”

“We’re bein’ watched. Some punk ass lil bitch probably thinks they can get the drop on us, get ready. Imma do somethin’ that might me stupid but I’ll need some help,” he whispered as he pulled out a small submachine gun.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“Imma shoot at ‘em and draw attention to myself. When I do that and they make themselves known, drop their ass,” he answered quietly.

“Got it,” I said as he slowly snuck around to get a better angle on the opposing party.

He shot toward where he thought the sound was coming from and an earth pony stallion popped out and returned fire. I grabbed Stardust’s rifle off my back and took aim. He was moving around so much that it was hard to get a clear shot on him, then he started focusing fire on me.

I quickly ran to find cover behind the wall of a building and slipped into S.A.T.S., taking aim for three shots at his head. Two of them missed and the third one pierced through his left ear. I was about to slip into S.A.T.S. again when Khalid ran across the street firing a barrage of bullets from his SMG, sending the offender straight to the ground.

As soon as he fell Khalid and I ran over to him, Khalid kicking his pistol away from him, “Is he dead?” Khalid asked.

“Not a chance in hell,” the stallion said weakly.

I pointed the rifle at his head and fired, “He is now.”

“Damn, that’s cold. I hope I never get on yo bad side, you’re one crazy lil bitch ain’t you?” he asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, ponies like The Sins will do that to you when they constantly try to kill you and your friends in any way they can.”

“Mill City Tower isn’t too far from here so there ain’t much farther to go, we shouldn’t run into any more bitch ass marks like him any time soon unless you count Enclave,” he said.

“I think I can take it from here, you don’t have to take me the rest of the way.”

He cocked his head, “You sure about that? I really don’t mind takin’ ya there.”

I nodded again, “Yeah I’m sure, don’t worry I’ll keep my promise and help you and your mom. Just give me the location of where you live and I’ll go there once I’m done here.”

He paused for a moment and walked over to me. He grabbed my Pip-Buck and entered to coordinates to his home and a marker popped up on my map and E.F.S., “I guess I’ll see you soon then if you ain’t dead after this, just be careful.”

“I will be, The Enclave hasn’t managed to kill me yet. It was nice to meet you Khalid, I hope we can get you and your mother to The Kingdom safely after this.”

As he walked away I noticed the confidence in each step, it reminded me of how Stardust used to walk. When he was gone I continued on toward Mill City Tower which was so close now that it almost hurt my neck trying to look up to the top of the building. When I walked around one of the fallen buildings I finally saw the base of the tower. From what I could tell there was only one entrance into the tower itself and it was guarded by at least ten pegasi in power armor. Two of which stood by the door, the rest patrolling the area, either on hoof or in the air around the entrance.

When I looked up again, I saw a lot more pegasi flying around the tower going up as high as I could see. The radio ponies weren’t kidding when they said the guard around Mill City Tower was ramped up. Nightshade must really be a big deal, or one of the ponies with him was. I still couldn’t get it out of my head that he was the pony that wanted to help me, but he still used Stardust to hunt me down. Why did he want to find me so bad, at least he did years ago? something more was going on and I intend to find out what it is.

The only problem now was how was I going to get into the tower itself. Once I did, how was I going to get around without being spotted? I really wish I had a Zebra Stealth Cloak right now. If I could at least get some of the guards around the door to leave, I might be able to slip inside and figure it out from there. The question was, how was I going to do that? Then I noticed one of the guards put a hoof to his helmet and say something. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I had a feeling I knew what he was doing. Their power armor must have some kind of radio inside them. If so…

I brought up the broadcaster on the Mark II and started to search for a channel. It didn’t take long for one to show up, it was listed as, M.C.T.E.B. 87, with a smile I flipped it on and waited, a moment later a mare’s voice echoed out of my Pip-Buck, “Entry patrol, we heard gunshots close to the Tower. Report.”

A stallion’s voice echoed out of it next, “We heard it too, most likely more gangs trying to kill each other out there. Not to worry, there’s more than enough firepower to keep them away.”

“Be sure that you do, we don’t need any problems today. Council Pony Nightshade and the three High Council members with him just arrived and I don’t want them to think we can’t keep back the lowlife gangbangers that live around here,” the mare said again.

As they talked a plan started to form in my head and I grinned. Going back to the broadcaster, I flipped on the mic and doing my best to sound like Milkshake I said into it, “This is patrol from Saint’s Parish, does anypony from Mill City Tower read me?”

I looked up and saw one of the ponies near the door stop and put a hoof to his helmet, his voice echoed out of my Pip-Buck a moment later, “This is the ground patrol for Mill City Tower, why are you contacting us?”

Clearing my throat, I said in my altered voice again, “We spotted a small mare that matched the description of The Courier from New Pegasus trying to sneak into Whinnieapolis. We tried to stop her, but she attacked us, killing three of the guards.”

“And why are you bothering us with this information? Get more guards from your own city to go after her,” the stallion said.

“We would but she escaped into Whinnieapolis, she was heading toward the tower when we last spotted her. There are signs that she’s killed a few ponies and zebras along the way, the trail of bodies lead in your direction.”

“Fuck, you’ve gotta be kidding me! We can’t deal with her right now, the Council ponies just arrived! Can’t your team search her down!?” he yelled into his own mic.

“We would, but it’s only me and my partner left. We don’t know the city as well as you do…” I paused for dramatic effect, “We’re almost to the tower now…wait a moment I think we spotted her!”

I saw the ponies around the entryway tense up as the stallion said, “What’s your location?”

Grinning I walked back a couple of blocks then said into the broadcaster, “It’s her, we’re going to engage!”

“No don’t…” the stallion said, but not fast enough. Pulling out Dream Walker and my plasma rifle, I fired a few shots into the air with both weapons.

When that was finished I screamed into the broadcaster, “Help me, please help, she’s going to kill us! Send as many ponies as you can, she’s not alone…”

I cut out what I was saying firing more shots into the air. When that was finished, I said in my own voice, keeping the Mark II away from me so I sounded distant, “Tell me where to find Nightshade and Pride.”

Changing my voice and bringing the Mark II closer again, “Please, I don’t know where he is. Don’t kill me please, I have a family…”

I pulled the Mark II back again and said in my own voice, “So did I!”

I fired off one more round, cut the mic, and walked back to where I could see the tower again listening to the broadcaster to see if my ruse worked. Sure, enough as I rounded the corner and watched from the shadows, I saw the Pegasi forming into a group getting ready to fly off to where I fired off the rounds. The Mares voice from before came back over the broadcaster, “Captain, what was all that?”

The stallion said, “We think The Courier killed some patrols from the Wall. It seems like she took the rest out a few blocks away from here.”

“Go check it out. If it is The Courier, you be sure to radio in. Pride’s here right now and we can send him in to take care of her.”

The stallion laughed, “I’m sure we can take care of one mare, even if she’s with one of her friends.”

“Don’t underestimate her captain, other ponies have done so before and they didn’t live long because of it. If you find her, you let me know, that’s an order,” the mare said.

“Yes, ma’am!” he said.

I watched as most of the guards around the base of the tower flew off toward where I’d been shooting. They only left two ponies behind, both of them flying around looking for any sign of…well…me coming to try and get into the tower. Two I could handle, at this point I was sure all Wasteland ponies were born morons.

I pulled out my Plasma Rifle again and took aim with S.A.T.S. and fired three rounds at both when they flew closer to the ground. Luckily for me, the first one I fired at wasn’t wearing a full helmet, his muzzle and mane were showing and two of my shots slammed into his exposed face. He went down without making a sound, his body glowing as it melted into green goo. The second I hit in his exposed wing. He screamed as he fell to the ground with a loud crash from his armor scraping against the asphalt. I ran out from cover, switching out the rifle for the oddly shaped blade I found back in the Absent Ruins. He was writhing on the ground, his wing mangled from the shots it took.

He looked up at me as I approached, “No, how did you…”

I stabbed him in the visor, the blade sliding into his skull like the armor he was wearing was nothing more than paper. He twitched then went limp as I twisted the blade around in his brain pan. With that done I looked back to make sure nopony heard the noise, then I lifted the body with my magic and walked over to where I was hiding and hid the body in a pile of trash. I went back then did the same with the pile of goo which was all that remained of the other pegasus. It was harder to hide what I did with him, but I hoped that the small specks of glowing green would go unnoticed when the guards got back. I couldn’t have anypony locking down the tower before I found my target.

When that was done I turned toward the doors that lead into Mill City Tower and walked up to them. Opening them slowly I looked around to make sure more guards weren’t posted inside. To my relief, nopony was in the large room beyond the doors. I moved in quickly, shutting the doors behind me. I took a deep breath then made my way over to the long reception desk that stood at the far end of the room, hoping I’d be able to find something there to help me find where I needed to go and a way to get around this place unnoticed. Either way I was finally inside the tower, there was no going back now.

The desk was mostly empty apart from a few prewar papers scattered around, but one of the terminals was giving off a soft glow. Moving over to it I used the Mark II to get me past the need for a password. I was expecting the same jumble of numbers and letters to come up like always, but it didn’t. The Mark II came up with a message…

Pip-Buck Mark II SB, opening advanced Hacking software, New Terminal Found. Protection on Terminal has Medium Level Security. Attempting to bypass security now…

Security Bypassed, Unlocking Mill City Tower Operations Terminal…

I watched as the screen went blank on the terminal for a moment, then came back with over a dozen files on it. I scanned over them quickly and right away noticed that most of the files on it had to do with the layout of the building. Better yet, one of the files told me what was on each level. To top it off, the files were newer, they’ve all been updated in the past week. So, The Enclave still used this terminal for themselves…perfect.

I downloaded the files to my Pip-Buck then started to check one of the most recent files, it was updated just last night.

Thunder Whip,

Council Pony Nightshade will be here tomorrow, one of The Sins came by today to tell us that we had to make sure one of the meeting rooms was ready for him and three High Council ponies that are accompanying him. Pride said to also have a room ready for Nightshade too because he most likely will be staying with us for a few days here in the tower. The High Council Ponies will only be here for the meeting but will be heading back to Stratus after.

I’m not sure what Nightshade wants with us or why he will be staying afterwards. I don’t like this one bit, something’s going on here and it stinks. From what I know about him, he doesn’t trust The Sins. Who would? Why is he bringing the new Pride with him then and sending us messages like this? Something’s wrong, we need to figure out what’s really going on. Either way, make sure to do what they want for now. Make sure you do something about those files we talked about before from Dr. Stormy. They might be here to check on how things are going with the Twin Cities, but they don’t need to know everything we’re doing. Put them in the safe in my room, not the normal one, the one I keep behind the portrait of my wife.

Snow Drift

“So, you’re here now, good to know. Now where are you staying?” I said as I looked at the files more, then I saw a response to the first message.

Snow Drift,

I’ve already done what you asked, I figured you’d want some of the things here hidden away before they arrived. As for where Nightshade will be staying, I’ve set up the meeting room on 45 for them, and also readied the suite on 48 for Nightshade and Pride. If you need anything else just let me know.

Thunder Whip

I smiled wider then looked at the diagram of Mill City Tower. From what I could tell there were 57 floors. Nightshade and Stardust must be toward the top. According to the diagram the first fifteen floors were mostly empty. The next few levels served as an area for the soldiers and guards that patrolled the Twin Cities to rest and store personal items. There were also a few levels dedicated to research from what I could tell. They took up floor 36 to 42, the rest of the floors between the Research area to the place where Nightshade was going to be holding the meeting were empty too.

“If they have a research area here, then they most likely have unicorns there. I might be able to disguise myself as one of the research ponies. I just have to find a way to get up there,” I said looking around.

On one side of the lobby I could see elevators. With my luck they wouldn’t just go right past the guard rooms. I guess it didn’t matter, I’d have to try something. Sooner or later, somepony was going to come in here and find me. I couldn’t risk that, so I walked over to the elevators and clicked the call button. A moment later one of them opened with a soft ‘ding’. Walking in I pushed the button for floor 35, figuring it would bring me to an empty floor that I could use to reach the research levels.

The door shut and the elevator shot upward. I watched as the numbers flew by on the small dial over the doors. The sudden movement and high speed made my stomach feel like somepony was pushing on it through my back, making me feel ill. Soon it stopped on floor 35, the doors opened again revealing a dark dusty room beyond and a glowing barrier right at the doorway. As the door opened a sweet-sounding mares voice said, “Twin Cities Control Hub.”

“Great, I should’ve known there’d be something like this blocking my way!” I yelled kicking at the transparent pink barrier. I was expecting my hoof to bounce off the glowing wall, but it went right through. The momentum from my kick threw me off balance and I rolled through the barrier and into the dusty room. The elevator door closed behind me, leaving me in almost complete darkness.

I got back to my hooves and looked around, then I looked back at the door still blocked by the pink energy, “How the hell did I get through that?” I walked back over to it and poked at the barrier, my hoof went through it and touched the door on the other side, “Huh, if what the Stranger said was right about these kinds of barriers, I must have an ancestor that was programmed into the spell.”

For once the Goddesses were on my side if I could get through barriers like that. If there are more, then they won’t be a problem for me in the future. Good to know, now to see what this floor had to offer. I turned back toward the dark dusty room trying to figure out what it was used for. It was a large space with only a couple separate rooms on each side, the rest of the space was filled with terminals, desks, maps, tech that I didn’t recognize, and one large ass screen right in the middle of the room. The walls were tinted glass that went from floor to ceiling, walking over to one I could see most of Whinnieapolis and a good amount of Saints Parish right across the river. I started to walk around the edge of the room looking out to see what else I could see. When I got to the north side I stopped and squinted. On the horizon I could just make out a small beam of light reaching up to the sky.

“I wonder what that is,” I said to myself as I pulled out my binoculars and tried to see if that helped, but it didn’t. Whatever that light was, it was many miles away from the Twin Cities, “Maybe that’s where the Crystal Empire is, I know it’s north of here. I doubt it’s close enough to see from here though.”

Figuring it didn’t matter I went back to looking around the room, most of the terminals here were either powered down, broken, or smashed. One however still had the telltale green glow of a working terminal. I walked over and tried to log in, but it was locked. Oh well, maybe the Mark II would pull off its new trick again. When I hooked up the Mark II, it didn’t just unlock the screen like it did down in the lobby, so I had to resort to the harder way of hacking. The words came up on the screen with a jumble of letters and numbers as always. With six tries and some muttered curses, I finally got it, the password was ‘Observation’.

The screen came up with a little over a half a dozen files with the title ‘The Twin Cities Municipal Control System’

“What the hell is a Municipal Control System?”

I read the files that were listed below and it became clear right away…

Street Cam. Data - Saint’s Parish District 1 - 4

Street Cam. Data - Saints Parish District 5 - 8

Street Cam. Data Whinnieapolis District 1 - 6

Street Cam. Data Whinnieapolis District 7 - 10

Radio Signal Detections

Traffic Control Center

M.A.S. Emergency Broadcast System Control Center

“Was this room used to spy on what was going on around the Twin Cities?” I asked myself as I clicked on one of the files under Whinnieapolis District 1 - 6. Another file came up that I could use to choose a district itself. Clicking on number one, I saw more files come up for what camera to access. The first one I brought up came up blanks with an error message, same for the next, and the next and so on, “Not surprised, most of the city is destroyed I’m sure the cameras are too.”

I went back and chose one of the ones in Saint’s Parish, when I chose a camera the large screen in the middle of the room lit up and I saw one of the streets in Saint’s Parish. Ponies of all kinds were walking down the street talking with each other or shopping at some of the venders. I chose another and got much of the same thing, only this time I saw a griffon talking with three stallions and taking notes on a pad she was holding in one talon.

“A griffon in Saint’s Parish, I wonder if that’s Kitty. Unless there are more griffons in the city, but I doubt that.”

She looked a little older than Aura, but she also looked kinder. Aura always had a hard-guarded edge to her, this griffon looked happy. Whatever she was saying to the stallions must’ve been funny because she kept laughing when they responded to her questions. I found myself watching her for the longest time, forgetting for the moment that I was in Enclave territory. As I watched I found my imagination taking over and I swore I could almost hear Aura talking to me, as if the griffon magically appeared next to me.

“Hey Shrimp, why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer,” I heard the disembodied voice say.

“Why do that when it’s more fun to watch her in the moment.”

“I dunno, yeah she’s cute and all, but I doubt she could handle herself in a fight. Unless that’s the kind of griffon you like, pretty but useless.”

“Nah, there’s only one griffon for me Aura, she might be cute but she’s not you,” I said, my eyes still watching the griffon on the screen as she waved goodbye to the stallions and moved on to chat with a mare who was working a fruit stand.

“Should’ve told me that before it was too late,” she said.

As she said that, I swore I could feel her presence. My eyes went wide and I twisted around, “Aura?” there was no one there. Fresh tears rolled down my face as I looked at the empty room. Aura’s non-existent words hanging over me like a ghost, “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

I wiped my eyes and turned back to the terminal and the large screen, the griffon was gone so I backed out and sighed. I was just wasting time right now, letting my curiosity get the better of me. I didn’t need distractions right now, I needed to get past the next few floors so I could find Stardust and Nightshade. The data from this terminal could be helpful later though, so I hooked the Mark II back into it and transferred the data. It may not hook me up to the cameras around the cities, but the rest might be good to have.

I walked away from the terminal and started to look around for a way to reach the next floor. If I couldn’t find stairs then I could always risk taking the elevator up the rest of the way, but I hope it doesn’t come down to that. I didn’t want to reach the floor I needed only to run into more guards. Unfortunately for me, I was too well known to most of The Enclave by now, they’d know who I was right away. I needed to find a disguise or a way to get around any security I ran into.

On one end of the room where one of the doors were, I finally found the staircase, “Finally something,” It was also blocked by a barrier just like the elevator, but like before I was able to go right on through. Pulling out Dream Walker I slowly made my way up the stairs. When I reached floor 36 I tested the door and found it was locked, “I’m so surprised,” I whispered to myself sarcastically as I pulled out my bobby pins. A few seconds later the lock clicked and I slowly opened the door. This floor was way different than the one I was just on.

A long hallway with doors on each side was in front of me with a much bigger room at the end that opened up and was filled with cubicles and terminals. I could see a couple of ponies typing away on them, busy with whatever job they did in the building. Moving slowly into the hall I started to look at the doors that were on each side. Two were bathrooms and two were locker rooms, there was one more that was closest to me that said it was Dr. Stormy’s Office. I made my way to that one and slowly opened the door. Nopony was inside so I slipped in quietly.

There was a desk with a terminal, charts on the wall, recordings scattered on the desk mixed with paperwork, a pair of glasses, and a view overlooking the city behind the desk. When I looked to one side I saw that this office had its own private bathroom. I went over to it and walked in, closing the door behind me. This Dr. Stormy had a locker, a private shower, and everything else you’d expect in a bathroom. Opening the locker, I found a white lab coat with a few odds and ends. As I was looking though the bathroom still trying to think of a way I could get farther up the tower, I heard the door to the office open followed by a mare’s voice.

“I don’t care what Snow Drift says, he can wait till later for the reports. I have to get ready for the meeting,” The mare said sounding irritated.

A stallion’s voice followed her into the room, “I understand Dr. Stormy, but he said he wanted the reports before the meeting starts.”

The mare sighed as she responded, “He just wants them so he can take out the things he doesn’t want The Council to know about. I don’t care, as you know I’m the one who requested this meeting and it took me three months to convince Nightshade to come. I’m not going to let Snow Drift get away with hiding my research just so he can stay out of trouble. If he doesn’t like it then he can come down here and request the information himself, even if he does the answer will still be no.”

I heard hoofsteps getting closer to the bathroom door. Panicking I jumped into the locker closing it behind me and looking out of the slits to watch what was going on, hoping the mare wouldn’t open it. The mare that walked in was wearing a white lab coat just like the one in the locker, she also could’ve passed for my twin, well maybe not a twin, but her coat was a darker grey close to my black one, her mane was a light grey almost white and I couldn’t see her eyes because she was wearing dark goggles. She was also a unicorn and almost as short as I was, but her mane was shorter and more practical than my own. A taller blue pegasus stallion was right behind her.

“I understand that, but you know that if I go back up there telling him you said no, he’ll just send me back down here.”

She rounded on him poking a hoof into his chest, “I don’t care, now go away, I need to get ready. The meeting is starting any minute now and I don’t have time to waste.”

“But…”

“Did I stutter? Now leave!” she yelled, her horn glowing with a dark orange light.

“No ma’am, sorry ma’am!” he said making a hasty retreat.

“Vile incompetent worm,” the unicorn said turning back to look herself over in the mirror, “One of these days I’m going to go up to that prick’s office and show him who really runs things around here.”

As I watched the mare fix up her mane an idea came to mind and I smiled. Slowly drawing Dream Walker, I opened the locker and pressed its barrel to the back of her head, “Don’t move.”

She just sighed and kept working on her mane, “Really, don’t move? Is that the best threat you could come up with?”

Frowning I pressed the barrel harder against her, “If you don’t do what I tell you to…”

She interrupted me, “Let me guess, you’ll kill me? How boring and predictable.”

“You do realize I have a pistol pressed against the back of your head…right?”

“A pistol!?” she said sounding more offended than shocked as she glanced at me through the mirror, “Ignorant child, that isn’t your normal run of the mill pistol, that is a Luna Edition Desert Eagle. It was one of the most beautiful and deadly weapons developed by Ironshod Firearms. They only made ten of those, nine of which were given to special soldiers during the war, and all of which have either been destroyed or are in the care of Enclave officers. The tenth and last one made was given to a mare named Babs Seed and was thought to be lost. Which it looks like it wasn’t since as you pointed out, you have pressed against the back of my head. If you want to threaten me then at least give some respect to the weapon you’re holding.”

“What does any of that matter? STOP WORKING ON YOUR MANE!” I yelled as I pulled back the hammer.

“Oh, I can’t do that, I’m too busy to deal with you and get ready for my appointment with The Council. If you really want something then spit it out and be gone.”

Was this mare for real? I shook my head, “Do you even care if I kill you?”

“Oh, I care quite a bit. You see I’m just too busy to die, there’s so much that needs to be done and not enough time to do it. But if you really feel like you need to feed your bloodlust by painting the wall red with the contents of my skull, feel free to pull that trigger, but I warn you now as soon as you do you’ll regret it.”

“Why’s that?”

She sighed again as she slowly turned to look at me, still ignoring Dream Walker, which was now pressed between her eyes, “First of all, you won’t be able to pull the trigger before I can teleport out of the way. Trust me you wouldn’t be the first pony to try killing me like this. Second, as soon as that magnificent piece of craftsponyship you called a ‘pistol’ goes off, you’ll have every able-bodied soldier on this floor to deal with. Now why are you here wasting my very limited time?”

I cursed and pulled Dream Walker back a little, but still kept it trained on her head, “I need to find a way up to the meeting room.”

“And you’re point is?”

“I need to find Nightshade and Stardust, I’m going to kill them.”

One of her eyebrows went up just a little, “I really don’t care if you want to kill Nightshade or the rest of the pompous pricks that run things around here. As for the pony you called Stardust, you must mean Pride. You couldn’t kill him even if you had an army at your side storming this tower. You must be that Courier the ponies in Stratus keep talking about. I take it that you have an overly enthusiastic opinion of yourself or at least your meager skills as a fighter.”

“I really don’t like you,” I said really wanting to just blow her brains out, but she did have a point. Dream Walker would bring everypony in the tower running.

“Nopony likes me and I really don’t care, I’m too busy with my work to care about the ponies in the tower or The Enclave. But I can see in your face that you really are determined to kill Pride, so I’ll do you a favor that’ll help you stay alive.”

Now that was a surprise, “What are you talking about?”

She sighed again, “Right now I only have about five minutes that I can spare. If you wouldn’t mind, please stop pointing that at me and I can show you what I mean.”

“How do I know you aren’t going to try anything?” I asked.

“Because I give you my word. My word is my bond, I live by that statement and always will, but if it makes you feel better, keep the ‘pistol’ out,” she replied.

Growling I holstered Dream Walker, “Fine, but if you try anything you’ll regret it.”

Sighing deeper and longer, she turned back toward her office, “I’m sure I will, now follow me Courier. By the way my name’s Dr. Stormy, what’s yours? Or do prefer to be called Courier?”

I didn’t know how to feel about Dr. Stormy’s change in character. So, with no other way to respond to her question I just answered it following her, “Shadow…Shadow Star.”

She moved behind her desk and started typing something on the terminal, “Shadow Star huh, there’s something familiar about that name but I can’t put my hoof on it.”

Figuring it couldn’t hurt I sat down next to her on her side of the desk, “It’s not my original name, my mother changed it when we got to the stable I grew up in, before that it was Morning Star, and any memory I’ve been able to remember all my parents and family called me before that was just Star.”

She stopped typing giving me a quizzical look, “Just Star? Where are you from originally?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I’m the kind of mare who likes to know things. Knowledge is the most important thing in The Wasteland, also I think I know why you were just called Star, that’s if your parents did change it later in your life.”

“Honestly I can’t remember everything from my past. My mother placed a very powerful memory spell on me when we first got to the stable, but from things I’ve learned since I’ve been out and some memories, I think I was born in The Crystal Empire.”

She smiled a little, “Ah, so my deduction was correct.”

“Yeah and?”

She tisked and went back to working on her terminal, “I’m also from The Crystal Empire, my parents were farmers near the edge of the city. The ponies that live there have different customs than the rest of The Wasteland. Naming their children is one of them. Like your name ‘Star’, if one of your parents was from The Crystal Empire they would’ve named you with just that single name. Normally it has something to do with who they think you will become or a family trait. It could also be something that one of them loves. As the child grows and their personality becomes more well known, they will either change it or add to it.”

“Or my mother was trying to hide me from The Enclave when she ran away.”

She shrugged, “That’s also possible, but I don’t think so. If she wanted to do that, she would’ve dropped the Star in your name, but what do I know?”

“As fascinating as this is, what did you want to show me about killing Stardust?”

She laughed, “Hahaha, kill him? I never said that Shadow. What I said was I’d show you how to stay alive. What I mean is, I’ll show you why you shouldn’t even try attacking him in any way.”

“What the fuck? I’m not leaving this place unless I kill him and Nightshade. If you know a weakness then tell me!”

She finished what she was typing then moved aside showing me the screen, “I give you The Devil’s Children Program. Pride, or as you call him Stardust, was one of the only ones from Phase 1 to fully survive.”

I looked at the screen seeing diagrams and notes about this program, as I read I asked, “This says the program was meant for only one or two ponies to survive!”

“I wouldn’t say I wanted only one or two to survive, I only expected one or two to pass the tests,” she said, “But as you can see from my notes, Pride was trained to be the perfect solider. He excels in just about everything, from common weaponry, to heavy weapons, hoof to hoof, melee, and long-range weapons. He’s also trained in espionage, camouflage, persuasion, and specialized battle tactics. He can think ten moves ahead of his opponents and figure out their weaknesses so he can use it against them.”

She sounded like a mother talking about her son and how proud she was of his accomplishments. All of it was making me shake with rage, “You act like he was perfect!”

“Correction, he is perfect.”

“If he was so perfect then why did he run away?” I asked.

That took the smile off her face, “You have a point, before we got him back he wasn’t quite perfect, not yet. I never meant for him to run away like he did, but that’s what you get when you have ponies trained in espionage. Hailstorm was better at that than Pride, it was because of him that Pride escaped. Sadly, he died, he could’ve been so useful.”

“He was Stardust’s best friend!” I yelled, “And Stop calling him PRIDE, his name is Stardust!”

She frowned, “Do keep your voice down, I’m right next to you and I don’t feel like listening to you bitch like a foal. I don’t care who he used to be, he’s Pride now. Soon he’ll make a new generation of Sins for us, a team that is more under the command of The Council. Once he does that, he’ll be ready for Phase 2.”

Glaring at her I asked, “And what is Phase 2?”

She grinned at the question, “We will clone him, making more soldiers as perfect as he is. Soldiers that will never betray us, ones we can control and not have to worry about falling in battle like we do right now. When Phase 2 is complete we won’t have any more use for Pride.”

As she spoke I pressed a button on my Pip-Buck then asked, “If that was the plan the whole time, then why did you take away his memories? Why make him do any of this if he is already perfect?”

“Because we still needed him to get stronger, to hone his skills more so that when we clone him, it will make it that much easier for us to make more just like him. He is perfect but he’s still not as strong as he can be. Though even if we didn’t plan on him escaping Stable 97 like he did, it did work out in the long run. The seven months he spent in the wasteland did more for him than another five years of training would’ve. We had to modify his memories because Stardust was too cocky, he didn’t take orders that he didn’t like, he was to put it lightly…an ass. We planned on doing this to him before his escape, but I’m glad we didn’t until now. Making him think his worst enemy is YOU, is perfect,” she said with a laugh.

“So, you changed his memories to make him think I killed his best friend so you could control him? Is that what I’m hearing Dr. Stormy?”

“That’s right, and now you should understand why you won’t be able to kill him. He’s hell bent on killing you one day, he will stop at nothing to blow your brains out. Once he finishes his mission for Nightshade, he’ll finish you off.”

I smiled then pushed the button again on my Pip-Buck, “Good to know, and thank you for telling me all that Doctor.”

She shrugged then closed the files on her terminal, “Now if you’re smart I’d suggest you leave, that’s if you want to live longer. If you really want to go up to where the meeting is, you’ll just end up dead.”

I pulled out Dream Walker again and pointed it right at her, “No, I won’t die, but I swear to the Goddesses that every one of you Enclave BASTARDS will.”

She just laughed and her horn glowed, “I don’t think so.”

She overpowered my Telekinesis in the blink of an eye, ripping Dream Walker out of my magical grip then with her horn glowing again I was slammed into the ground and held there. She got up from her seat and walked closer to me, “Now, that was a stupid move Shadow Star. I gave you a chance to leave, but you just had to get your revenge on us. Why is that, what could make you act like such an idiot?”

I was at the boiling point, my anger reaching its limit, looking up into her goggles I said, “Stardust killed someone I love, he took her away from me right after I finally realized how I felt about her.”

As I talked I let my anger fuel my power, letting it enhance my magic. I could feel the magic around my horn glowing brighter than it ever had before. Dr. Stormy’s smile fell and she took a single step back, “What are you?”

That deep voice I heard before spoke again as I started to ready a spell, “That’s it Star, this mare is the one who started the whole program that took away your friend. Show her who you really ARE!”

With a simple flick of my magic I blew apart her spell holding me down. Getting back to my hooves I said, “I am Shadow Star, an ordinary package Courier, and the daughter of Grimoire Spell.”

She took another step back, “Grimoire! No that can’t be possible, her child is dead!”

“I’m not dead, I never was. But I’m not just the daughter of one of the most powerful unicorns to come from The Enclave, I’m also your worst NIGHTMARE!”

“I don’t care who you are you can’t do anything to me in here, I already told you that if you fire your gun…”

She never finished what she was going to say, pulling the sword I found from my saddle bags I brought it around and stabbed her in the chest, the blade just missing her heart. Blood gushed out of the wound as I pulled the blade free, Dr. Stormy falling to the floor whimpering in pain as she tried to stop the bleeding with her hooves. Holding the blade up I looked down at her, “The Enclave took everything from me, my father, my mother, my friends, my LIFE. You shouldn’t have told me that you were the pony that started the program that made Stardust. I might’ve let you live, but now you get to die just like the rest of the arrogant Enclave fucks in this place.”

She looked up at me saying in a weak voice, “What do you mean your father was taken?”

“My father was a soldier, he died trying to find me. It might not have been on Enclave orders, but it might as well have been. Because of the way you think ponies in the clouds have to live, he had to hunt my mother down and ended up dead because of it,” I said readying the sword.

“Your father? You foal, he’s…”

I jammed the sword into her throat, cutting off her last words. She gagged and tried to let out a scream, but the blade was blocking her airwave. She couldn’t draw a breath or let the air out of her lungs. Her chest pumped trying to force the air past the steel lodged in her, but to no avail. I reached down and pulled her goggles off and looked into her dark orange eyes, “No more lies for you, no more words of who you think Stardust is. I hope you burn in hell Enclave Scum!”

I ripped the sword out of her, blood rushing out of the jagged hole some of it splashing onto my mane and coat, but I didn’t care. No Enclave Fucks deserved to live. She tried to take in another deep breath. I could hear air flow in through her neck, only for a moment before the blood fountaining from her neck flowed into her windpipe and into her lungs. She gagged again, her head falling forward as I stood over her still looking into her eyes. She lifted a hoof trying to grab onto me, trying anything she could to get me to save her. I just pushed her hoof away and watched as the life drained from her eyes. I shook my head then checked her body for anything I could use.

She didn’t have much on her, apart from an ID card. I walked back into the bathroom and took the extra outfit she had hanging in the locker. I removed my barding, put it into my saddle bags, and dressed myself in the dead mare’s extra outfit. Turning to look myself over in the mirror, one thing became obvious. I may look a lot like her, but my mane would be a dead giveaway. I took out the sword and looked at its bloody length, then back at myself. With a sigh I turned on the faucet, cleaned the blood off and the blood from my face, then went back to looking at myself.

“I’m sorry mom, but I can’t stay the mare you used to know and love. I can’t keep holding onto the things that remind me of who you used to be,” using my magic, I pulled my braid up and out. I brought the sword closer and with a quick slash, most of the lower part of my mane came free. Holding back a sob, I tossed the beautiful silver remains of my braid into the trash, then looked myself over again. My mane now only came down just past my shoulders, it was ragged and uneven. Looking around in the locker behind me I found some scissors and started to fix what I could. It only took me a few minutes, and I knew I couldn’t do as well as a pony like Sugar Buck could, but it looked better than it did. I also trimmed up my bangs, then using a red headband I found in the locker, I pushed my mane back and used it to hold it there. When I looked back in the mirror, I didn’t even recognize myself. I looked older and more confident, more importantly, in dim light I could pass for the bitch I was pretending to be. I took the goggles she was wearing and put them on, then cleared my throat doing my best to sound like her, “I’m Dr. Stormy…”

It was close but not close enough, so I tried again trying to remember how sarcastic she was, “Who else would I be you foal? Dr. Stormy, now leave me alone. I’m too busy to deal with a worm like you.”

I smiled, “Much better.”

I looked myself over once more then figuring I couldn’t do much better, I started to work on the next problem, the Mark II. How was I going to hide it? I guess I could just try covering it with the sleeve. I pushed the sleeve of the lab coat over the Mark II, at first it didn’t want to go over but after some work I got it. There was a small bulge, but hopefully no pony would notice or if they did they wouldn’t think about what it was.

The last thing I needed to figure out was what to do with Stardust’s Rifle. I couldn’t just put it in my Saddle bags, the bags were enchanted to hold more than they should, but unlike my Plasma Rifle, Stardust’s rifle was longer. So far, I’ve always kept it on my back like he used to. Lifting the rifle, I looked it over, I couldn’t get away with just carrying it around with me while I was dressed like I am. There was nothing else I could do, I had to hide it somewhere and get it on my way out. Walking back to the door that led back into the hallway, I opened it and looked around. Seeing nopony there I trotted back to the staircase and made my way back down to floor 35.

Passing through the barrier again, I walked over to the large monitor in the middle and hid the rifle under it. I really wanted to use it on Stardust, the thought of killing him with his own rifle was kind of poetic. I couldn’t do that now, but I wouldn’t just leave it behind. When he was gone, I’d come back and retrieve his rifle. It would serve as a reminder to the pony he used to be, the friend that I lost, “I’ll be back for you,” I said before turning and heading back upstairs.

I was just getting back to the office when two power armored pegasi came down the hall, one of them saying, “Dr. Stormy there you are. We were sent down here to get you; the meeting is about to start.”

I froze for a moment then slipping into my new character, I let out a long sigh then adopted the voice of Dr. Stormy, “I can tell time you know! I was just about to head up there and I don’t remember asking for an escort.”

They both stopped then the other pony, a mare from the sound of her voice said, “Sorry Dr. Stormy, Nightshade said we should come down and get you. We were just following orders ma’am.”

“Does he think I’m a foal? Fine whatever, let’s get on with it, I don’t want to keep him waiting,” I said walking toward them and away from the office which still had the body of the real Doctor in it, and a lot of blood pooled on the floor.

The mare stopped me asking, “Don’t you need to get your files?”

Looking up at her, “Do I tell you how to do your job when you’ve gone thirty-six hours without sleep and neck deep in stress surrounding your job? Noooo.”

She scratched the back of her head, “At least once or twice a day. Well, the telling me how to do my job part anyway.”

“That’s beside the point, I don’t need you telling me what I do need or don’t need for this meeting. The nerve of you idiots. Now let’s go before I report you for holding me up.”

They both saluted, “Yes Ma’am.”

They turned and I followed as they lead me through the office, past pegasi and a couple unicorns who were working on their terminals, and to a different elevator. I watched as the pegasus used a key card like the one I took off the unicorn to open the elevator, then we all got in and started heading up. We arrived on floor 45, this floor was also different from the other ones I was on before. There was a reception desk like the one in the lobby, only smaller with an older pegasus mare working at it. There were seats on each side for ponies to wait, two halls were on each side leading off to what I assumed were more offices.

The mare looked up from whatever she was doing when we walked off the elevator and with a big smile she said, “Good Evening Dr. Stormy, I’m guessing you’re here for the meeting with Nightshade and the others?”

“No, I pulled myself away from my work to go on a walk. Of course, I’m here for the meeting. Don’t be such a moron and think before you ask ridiculous questions,” I replied.

She just giggled, “As gloomy as ever I see. The meeting will be in the last room to my left. Nightshade will be there shortly, but the three High Council ponies are already waiting for you.”

The stallion pegasus looked toward me asking, “Would you like us to accompany you Ma’am?”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I replied walking past the desk.

As I got further down the hall I heard the power armored mare say, “Why is she always such a bitch?”

Smiling I kept on going until I was past the rest of the offices, the large set of double doors were right at the end of the hall. I opened one and walked into the large office. Thank the Goddesses it was dimly lit. Sitting around the oval desk were six ponies, all pegasi. Three of them who all sat at one end of the desk were old, two were stallions one a mare. They all were wearing clothes that looked very expensive. They had to be the High Council ponies, the other three wore military garb, I assume they are their bodyguards.

As I walked in, the mare let out an annoyed sigh, “Finally, now the only ones we have to wait for is Nightshade and Snow Drift. Dr. Stormy I’m happy you were able to join us today.”

Figuring that if there was anypony in The Enclave Dr. Stormy would show some respect it would be these three, “I’m never too busy for you High Council Mare.”

She smiled at that, “I see you are in a good mood today Doctor. Why don’t you take a seat?”

I moved over to the place she indicated and sat. We didn’t have to wait long for the doors to open again and in walked three pegasi. One I knew all too well, it was Stardust decked out in his blue and black power armor, the symbol of a tribal lion head on his flank. He didn’t even look at me as he walked in followed by a white pegasus with an ice blue mane who was arguing with a very tall pegasus stallion. He was wearing a sharp looking military uniform with a cap to match, in the center of the hat he had what I assumed was his rank. On the left side of his uniform he had badges of all kinds. His eyes were covered by a pair of darkened glasses and I couldn’t see most of his mane under the hat, but I did see a little dark blue poking out the back. His coat was jet black, even darker than my own and he had a hard look to him. Maybe it was the small scars that lined his muzzle and cheeks. There was no doubt, he had to be Nightshade.

One of the old stallions cleared his throat, “It’s about time you showed up Nightshade and Snow Drift.”

Ignoring the Stallion, Nightshade looked over at the white stallion who had to be Snow Drift and said in a commanding voice, “I’m not having this conversation again Snow Drift. Either you give me what I asked for or you can pack up your office and go back to Nimbus! Now go sit down before I make you!”

Snow Drift took a step back then said, “I’m not going to let you bully me into giving you what you want, I run things here Council Pony Nightshade not you!”

“If you argue with me one more time about this it won’t just be your job you’ll have to worry about. Do I make myself clear? Now Sit down and Shut up!” he said.

For a moment I thought Snow Drift was going to keep up the argument, but then he wilted under the stern gaze of Nightshade, “Fine, but I’m going to file a formal complaint about this.”

Ignoring Snow Drift, Nightshade finally turned his attention to the rest of the room, “My apologies High Council members, I hope you all weren’t waiting too long for me.”

The other stallion council pony spoke up, “Not at all, we only just got here before Dr. Stormy did. I have to ask though Nightshade why is ‘He’ here?” he asked pointing at Stardust.

Stardust grinned, “Why do you care? It’s not like I put a tac in your chair or anything.”

The stallion looked at Stardust angrily, “Your arrogance and constant sarcasm really pisses me off Pride, don’t push it. The Sins may work for The Enclave, but we still don’t like your kind being a part of meetings like this. Your kind isn’t welcome here. All you Sins are good for is acting as Equine weapons to keep order where order is needed.”

Nightshade spoke up, “He’s here with me Sir, he’s the only Sin I trust. Pride isn’t like the rest of The Sins and you should all know that. That is if you’ve read the reports I’ve sent regarding the matter.”

The mare spoke up next, “We have, this new Pride hasn’t done anything that we would normally consider worth being a Sin. Still his title and position still put him in the same category as the rest of them.”

I laughed a little and still using the other mares voice I said, “He’s nothing like the rest of those rejects. Pride is on a different level compared to the rest. A perfect specimen, a perfect…soldier if you will.”

Nightshade looked over to me, his gaze lingered on me for a long moment, “Good point Dr. Stormy,” he turned his attention back to the rest, “He’s here because I wanted him to be and because I need him close right now.”

The Council pony on the mares right said, “It’s not like you to trust one of them this much Nightshade, why is this so different?”

“It’s simple, I can trust Pride, unlike the rest of them including their leader Cloak,” he said simply, “As you all know The Seven Sins of Equinity is one of the reasons I called this meeting, it’s also why I wanted us to meet in Mill City Tower, there are less ears here to listen in on what I have to say.”

The mare spoke up, “Yes, I’d like to hear about this. What are you thinking Nightshade?”

He grinned, “Not thinking, I’ve already done. As of two hours ago, I disbanded The Seven Sins of Equinity. They have all been labeled as traitors of The Grand Pegasus Enclave, the same goes for Cloak A.K.A. Grimoire Spell.”

One of the Stallions who I thought was a guard slammed his hoof on the table, “Why would you do that!? They are the best special ops team we have!”

“Major, calm yourself, I’ll explain,” Nightshade said, “If any of you haven’t been keeping an eye on what’s been going on in New Pegasus, then I can understand why you wouldn’t know what’s happening. As of now we have lost three of The Sins, Gluttony, the former Pride who was the leader, and just recently Wrath. They all died fighting this package courier that I know you’ve all heard about.”

“Yes, but they were trying to kill her because of what she did to the cloud layer and her attacks on The Enclave as a whole,” The Council Mare said.

Nightshade sighed, “That is not fully correct. At first yes, we sent them after her for what she did, but that’s not the only reason. I’ve found out that Cloak has been spying on her using Envy ever since she first left her stable. Cloak wants some Pip-Buck The Courier has on her, for reason’s she hasn’t told The Council about. I’ve ordered Pride and Cloak not to go after her anymore once I found out that the hole she made in the cloud layer was a mistake and something she wouldn’t be able to do again. I also told them to back down because it wasn’t her that first attacked us, but one of our own who went after her. Either way, the fights The Sins have had with her, has proven to be catastrophic. When she killed Pride, she also took out a good part of a cloud factory that sat over Appleton, killing many pegasi. Each time we go after her, she does something more devastating and ponies on the surface are starting to see that. If this keeps up, we will be kicked out of New Pegasus, and all of the work we’ve spent over the past few years to get into that city will have gone to waste.”

The mare spoke up again, “I still don’t see why disbanding The Sins is a good idea, and why you didn’t get approval from us.”

Stardust was the one who answered, “Because the old Sins don’t listen to the council, they only answer to Pride…the old Pride, or Cloak who is hell bent on finishing her mission.”

“Exactly, as you all know Cloak has betrayed The Enclave before when she left twelve years ago so she could try to save her daughter. I personally was surprised when she was allowed back in and put in charge of The Sins.” Nightshade said.

The Council Stallion on the mares left spoke up, “She may have left us in the past, but she never stopped being Enclave. You know that as well as us Nightshade. She gave us a good reason as to why she left and she gave us good intel she got on three of the factions that are enemies of The Grand Pegasus Enclave.”

“Be that as it may, she still doesn’t answer to anypony but herself. I told her to return to Stratus after her failed attempt to capture The Courier and after she almost got our new Pride killed. She didn’t do that, she took Greed, Lust, and Sloth with her to Los Alicorn. While she did that, Envy went completely rogue and we lost track of him. I was able to get Pride here to make Wrath come with, and just yesterday he was killed by The Courier in the Absent Ruins just outside of The Kingdom,” Nightshade said.

The mare spoke up again, she had to be the one with the most authority, “So you think we should disband them because of this? Who will replace them then?”

I knew where this was going so I spoke up, “Easy, this Pride will make his own group to replace The Sins until he’s ready to complete the program. They will be loyal to us and not some random Mare who cares more about her own personal gain than that of The Enclave.”

“That’s the plan I had,” Stardust said grinning wider.

“You may have a point. Though I still don’t like that you did this without talking to us first,” she said.

“I can explain that in a moment,” Nightshade said as he looked toward me, “Dr. Stormy, I know I asked you to come up here so we could talk about how things are going in the tower, but would you mind stepping out for a moment. The same for everypony apart from the High Council.”

I froze again for a moment, then finally I nodded, “Fine with me, just don’t keep me waiting. I have work to finish up and would rather not dilly dally.”

He smiled at me, “Don’t worry this won’t take long.”

The three ponies that were with the High Council got up and left, same for Stardust and myself. Snow Drift followed me out as well keeping close to me. Once the door to the meeting room was shut and the others were out of earshot he said, “Doctor, I know that we don’t get along all the time, but I need to know if you destroyed the files?”

Without looking at him I said, “No I didn’t, I told you I won’t do it.”

He paused saying, “Come with me.”

Looking back at him I said, “Why should I?”

“Because, I don’t want others to hear this. Can you at least give me a few minutes to explain to you why we can’t let them find out what we’ve been doing?” he said opening the door to an empty office.

Figuring it wouldn’t matter I sighed and followed, “Fine, but it won’t change my mind.”

When I was in the office he shut and locked the door before saying, “I know you found those files about me sending aid to The Kingdom. If Nightshade or the others find out, they’ll kill me.”

That took me by surprise, this Enclave pegasus was helping Sheena and the Emperor? Shaking my head a little I asked, “That may be true, but I’m not going to go down with you when they do find out, and they WILL find out.”

“I know, but I’m only doing it to get information on them. I need to build up their trust, once I do, then we can finally destroy that fucking place.”

I frowned, of course he wasn’t really helping The Kingdom, he was trying to destroy them, “If that’s the case then why didn’t you tell The Council that in the first place?”

“Because they wouldn’t understand, Nightshade wouldn’t allow it. He might act tough and all, but deep down he’s a snake. Look how he keeps defending The Courier and now he’s getting rid of The Sins. He’s also the pony who told us not attack The Kingdom, even though they’ve been harboring Dashites!” Snow Drift said.

“You may be right, I’ll think about what you said before I decide for good though. Now can we get out of this office, it’s stuffy in here?”

He reached out a hoof and grabbed my left foreleg, “Wait, I still need to ask you one more…”

He stopped talking as soon as his hoof grabbed the Pip-Buck that was under the sleeve of my lab coat. He pulled me closer before I could do anything, and lifted the sleeve, reveling the Mark II, “You’re not Dr. Stormy…”

I smiled, and used my magic to pull off the goggles, “No I’m not, I’m The Courier.”

He was about to scream for help, but he wasn’t quick enough. From under the lab coat, I drew the sword and sliced it through his neck. I stepped out of the way before the spray of blood could land on me. His eyes went wide and he gagged trying to say something, but he couldn’t get the words out as blood poured into his wind pipe, just like the real doctor. His body fell to the ground as he started to convulse on the ground. A moment later he was dead.

“Should’ve just kept on walkin’,” I said stepping around the growing pool of blood. I looked down at his corpse knowing I screwed up, he was going to call for help or warn somepony. I didn’t care that I killed him, what wasn’t good was that somepony would notice him missing when the meeting started up again, “Wait a sec, why do I care about this meeting anyway? I know where they are now, I don’t have to keep this up.”

Looking around the office I tried to figure a way that I could get back into the room without Nightshade knowing. Stardust wasn’t far away, but even he wasn’t fast enough to stop me from killing Nightshade, or the other Council Ponies for that matter. When I was in the office during the meeting I noticed ventilation openings in the ceiling, but this smaller office didn’t have one in it, well not one I could fit in at least. I went back to the door, cracked it open and checked to see if anypony was out there. I could hear some ponies talking down the hall, but no pony was in sight. I shut the door, locked it then teleported back into the hall. It wasn’t foolproof, but it would keep just anypony from walking in for now.

Walking back toward the lobby I started to look at the doors as I passed by them. Finally I found what I was looking for, one of the doors said ‘Sanitation’ on it. If this building was anything like Stable 28, it would have access to the air system. I tried to open the door, but it was locked…of course it was. Looking down the hall both ways I checked to make sure nopony was watching, then started on the lock. It only took a few seconds and the lock clicked and I pushed the door open. I almost screamed when I first walked in. There was a skeleton hanging from the middle of the small room. He was wearing a janitor’s uniform, the name tag said ‘Grimes’ on it. Below him lying on the ground was a nice looking long barreled revolver. Next to it was a note. Closing the door behind me and relocking it I picked up the hoof written note wondering to myself why he didn’t just shoot himself, it would’ve been a lot quicker.

It’s been six months since Equestria died, six months I’ve been trying to survive in this Wasteland. Most of the buildings in Whinnieapolis have fallen and the dead walk the streets. Ran out of ammo last night. I’ve been trying to hold up in Mill City Tower. I know this place better than most since I used to work here before the world died. I can’t go on anymore, I can hear them coming up the stairs. The dead won’t stop hunting me, even all the way up here. The streets are flooded with them. My food is gone, I’m almost out of water, and there’s no pony who can help. My wife died in the blast, the dead killed my son, I’m alone and I’m done. I tried, but I can’t do this anymore…

Grimes

“Sad, but at least his loss is my gain, thanks Mr. Grimes,” I said as I picked up the revolver. True to his words, it was empty but from what I could see it looked like it took a .357 Magnum. Luckily for me I had quite a few rounds of those left for Ol’ Festus. I tried giving them to Wingnut after I let him have the rifle, but he told me when he fixed the rifle he changed it so it now used .45-.70 ammo. He said it was more powerful even if it was harder to find. So, I loaded Six rounds into the revolver.

With that done I looked around for what I needed, it wasn’t hard. On the other end of the room I found it. Most of the ventilation came together to connect to an old heating system. There was a part of the vent that could be pulled away in case a pony needed to check the ventilation, just like Stable 28. I walked over to it opening the panel then stopped, “I don’t think I need to keep up the disguise now.”

I quickly changed back into my barding and Duster, pulled off the headband, and tucked it all into my Saddle Bags. Then I moved into the vent and with some effort, reached the top and started to crawl my way toward where the Meeting room should be. As I got closer to my destination, voices started to float toward me. At first they were muffled and I couldn’t make out what they were saying, that changed when I finally got to a larger vent cover that was right over the meeting room.

“Nightshade, I don’t care how many times you keep saying it, you still went over our heads,” The High Council Mare said. I looked down through the grate and saw that all three were still sitting at one end of the table. Nightshade though had moved to sit right next to them, his darkened glasses sitting on the table next to him.

“I did and I’ll say it again Torrential Wind, I don’t give a shit what you want or what you say. I’m not taking your orders again, you’ve done nothing for our ponies but get them killed in small fights with The Steel Rangers and the NLR. Both Stratus and Nimbus have the highest amount of Dashites. Last year alone we banished forty-five pegasi from Stratus alone, thirty-four from Nimbus. Thunderhead only had two last year and one this year, Neighvarro hasn’t had one in years. If we keep this up we will be so weak that we won’t be able to defend ourselves if Neighvarro tries to take us over.

The mare puffed herself up as she said, “How dare you treat me with such disrespect! You will address me as High Council Mare not by my name!”

“Yes Nightshade what has gotten in to you?” the stallion on her left asked.

“None of you deserve the respect your position calls for. That’s why I’m taking things over from now on,” Nightshade said.

The Mare almost screamed at him, “A statement like that is an act of treason Nightshade, I’d think twice before you utter such things around us again. You’re a brilliant Stallion and well respected among the soldiers and citizens, don’t throw away everything you’ve gained in the past decade because you’re too blinded by power.”

The Stallion on her right spoke up next, “Yes, do think more clearly Nightshade. Even if you wanted to take over, you couldn’t. As you know, Council Members are elected by the citizens. You can’t keep this position if they knew what you planned.”

Nightshade was quiet for a long time, finally he started to laugh, “Hahahaha, you have a point. Council ponies are elected, that’s how I got this position as you all know. The thing you seem to forget, a High Council Pony like all of you is an appointed position by the other High Council Ponies. Normally it takes years to reach that level of leadership, and the ponies who are chosen are always friends of the ponies who run things.”

“That’s right, what’s your point?” the mare asked.

He chuckled again, “Did you know that there’s another way to become a High Council Pony? No? I figured as much, well I’ll tell you then. If something happens to all the current members of the High Council, then a Council pony who holds the most number of votes from the last election is placed as the new High Council Pony. Seeing how you three are the only High Council in Stratus and Nimbus, if you die I’d be put in your place. That would give me full control over everything that happens in both cloud cities and all of the ground cities.”

“That may be true, but if you killed us you’d never get away with it. You’d be executed,” the mare said jumping out of her seat and stepping away from the table, “This meeting is over!”

I was confused on what Nightshade was doing, I should just drop in there and kill him and the others. But something about what was being said kept me enwrapped in what was going on. Nightshade was still chuckling to himself, “You’re right, I’d never get away with killing you, but if somepony like let’s say The Courier was to do it, then I’d be free to take over.”

My heart jumped into my throat as he said that. It was like he knew I was up here watching, or at least in the building. I didn’t get a chance because one of the stallions said, “The Courier is in New Pegasus, she wouldn’t ever get close enough to us to kill us. You’ve lost your mind Nightshade, just like the rest of your doomed family!”

“Oh really? If that’s what you think then you really aren’t keeping an eye on what’s going on in your own cities. The Courier is in this tower, she killed Dr. Stormy an hour ago, and I’m sure by now she’s killed more ponies in the tower all while she’s trying to find a way to get to me…isn’t that right Shadow?” Nightshade said putting his glasses back on and looking up at me, “Why don’t you come down and say hello.”

I tried to turn around to run away before Nightshade could stop me, but the vent was small and I couldn’t move fast enough. He flew into the air, ripped off the grate and pulled me out of the tunnel. I tried to kick him, but he held on tight then gently set me down on the table. He backed away and stood by the door watching me, a small smile on his face. All three High Council ponies backed away, one of the stallions saying, “How the hell did she get up there?”

“She’s smart, she always seems to find a way to get to her target,” Nightshade said still grinning, “Introduce yourself Shadow and tell the nice old ponies who you are.”

Wow, someone called me smart for once. I glared at him then pulled out the revolver and pointed it right at him, “I’d rather blow your fucking brains out!”

He just shook his head, “Now is that any way to act? Why would you want to hurt me? I never did anything to you.”

“You sent Pride after me, because of him my friend Aura’s DEAD!” I yelled, “I’m going to make you pay for taking her away from me.”

“You think I sent Pride to go kill your friend? You really should get your facts straight. When I heard what happened back at the Ruins I was furious with Pride for what he did. I ordered him to keep an eye on Wrath and if needed to kill him if he went after you, which he did. At first I wasn’t sure why he tried to take you in, but after some digging I figured it out.”

“You’re a fucking liar!”

“Nightshade do something!” the mare said.

“Quiet, all of you, I’m handling this!” he said before looking back at me, “Pride was given orders not by me, but by the three you see behind you to bring you in. They’re the ones who’ve been pulling the strings all along, Pride told me when he got back that he was ordered to kill one of your friends and say it was me who ordered it, that way you’d come hunt me down.”

I lowered my revolver a little, then turned to look at the three old pegasi who were pressed against the far wall, “Is that true?”

“He’s lying to you!” a stallion said, “We don’t even know who you are, just the stories we’ve been told.”

“Don’t LIE to her!” Nightshade yelled, “You know damn well who she is!”

At first, I wasn’t sure who was lying to me. Mom told me in her notes never to trust Nightshade, but I also remembered that other ponies said he was my father’s best friend and wanted to protect me. Which story did I believe, was he the pony that just wanted to get back the daughter of his best friend and protect her, or was he a liar like my mom said? The answer was too easy, Mom lied to me for most of my life, why would this be any different?

Turning the revolver to point at them I said, “I’m Shadow Star The Courier, Daughter of Grimoire Spell. I was born in The Crystal Empire and thought to be dead, but I have a feeling you know that already, don’t you?”

The mare broke first under my intense gaze, “Yes we know who you are, but only because Grim told us about you being alive when she came back to us. She told us that you’d be the pony to give her the key she needed to finish unlocking some prewar project that would make us the most powerful cloud city in The Enclave.”

“My mom thinks I’m dead, she had her memories wiped. How could she have told you any of this?”

Nightshade spoke up, “She told them a week before one of her spells back fired on her. I’ve tried telling her that you were alive ever since you got out of Stable 28, but she won’t listen to me or anypony about it. The only pony she trusted was her brother, which you killed. When I found out that the High Council were the ones sending The Sins after you just so they could get your Pip-Buck I started to strike back against them.”

I turned back to him, “If that’s true then why is my friend taking orders from you? I know Pride is loyal to her, Dr. Stormy said as much!”

“He wasn’t at first, but after I told him that The High Council was betraying The Enclave, he switched sides rather quickly. It’s a flaw in his programing, he’s loyal to The Enclave as a whole not leaders who betray it.”

“How can I trust you?” I asked, “I don’t see why I shouldn’t just kill you right here and now.”

He smiled wider, “You couldn’t even if you wanted to, I’m a lot tougher than I look. Also I swore to protect you, and I always keep my word.”

“Then why should I kill them, even if they are the ones who told Stardust to kill Aura, what else have they done?” I asked, I wanted them all dead, but I needed to know more.

“Don’t you dare tell her anything else Nightshade!” the mare shouted.

He ignored her, “Dr. Stormy’s work was started and funded by those three. Dr. Stormy is the one who ran the program, but they’re the reason Stardust was made into what he is. They were also the ones who decided to have his memories wiped. Everything bad that’s happened to you from The Enclave from the attack at that old F&F Tool Factory, to Frosty Summit, and The Sins, is because of them.”

I thought I was angry before, now after hearing that I was so furious I swore I felt like slaughtering every pegasus in sight, even Nightshade. He says he wanted to protect me, but he didn’t protect my friends, he didn’t protect Aura. He was just as responsible as the rest of them in my mind, “I don’t care what you say Nightshade, but I can’t trust you or anypony anymore. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t destroy everything here and kill every last pony including you!”

“Because I’m the only pony that’s keeping the rest of The Enclave from coming after you,” he opened the door to the office, “You can come after me if you want, but I’d suggest you don’t. I’m leaving, and I’m taking Pride with me. If you play your cards right, you can still save him you know. I just need a little more time to get him to believe the truth. I’ll buy you some time while you take care of those fools. It was nice to meet you at last Shadow Star, I hope the next time we meet it’s under better circumstances.”

Before I could do anything, the door shut and he was gone. The pony I came to kill was getting away, so was Stardust. But what if he was right, what if I didn’t know the whole truth, what if I could save Stardust still? No, I told myself that I was going to kill him. No matter what, he still killed Aura, there was no coming back from that. I’d have to find another way to do this, but for now at least I could still get some revenge.

I looked back at the old pegasi who still hadn’t done anything, but cower by the wall, “Who’s first?”

The stallion on the mares right said, “You won’t listen to a crazy pony like him will you?”

“You then,” I said aiming down the sights of the revolver and firing. The stallion’s skull blew apart splattering the others with bone, blood, and grey matter.

“Okay, okay, yes we sent Pride to get you, we told him to only kill a friend of yours if you didn’t go with him. It’s not like we just out right told him to…” the other stallion started to say, I blew his brains out next.

I turned the revolver on the mare, “Any last words before I send you to Hell?”

She was crying and shaking on the ground, “We only did what was best for The Enclave, we need that project!”

Holstering the revolver I walked closer to her putting my face an inch away from hers, “You should’ve done more research before you came after me bitch. Grim lied to you, don’t feel bad she does it to everypony. I am the project you wanted. Do you know anything about Grim’s daughter?”

She looked up at me still crying, “Only that she was a sick filly, she went off to find a cure for the dark curse her brother cast on her. We heard you were a white filly but we figured that was a mistake once you were out of the stable.”

I smiled, “I was, but when my mom brought me to where Project Stargazer was. I got infected by something powerful, it did cure me, but it also changed me.”

I lifted her with my magic, she looked down at me with fear in her eyes, “You can’t have the power from Stargazer, there’s no way a filly could handle that much power inside of her. You would’ve died!”

I slammed her head against the wall then flipped her around and threw her against the window that overlooked the city. Walking over to her again I watched as she slowly got back to her hooves, her expensive clothes were ruined by the blood that coated it now, “I should’ve died, that’s true. For some reason though, I just keep surviving. Maybe I’m just lucky,” I pulled out Dream Walker and fired three shots into the window behind the mare. The glass cracked then shattered, wind gusted in as the mare fell to her belly again, fear plain in her eyes.

“Please don’t kill me, I’m sorry…I’m SORRY!”

“Sorry won’t bring Aura back, it won’t bring Silver back, it won’t save Stardust or my mother,” I said picking her up with my magic again readying my sword to cut off her wings and throw her out the window.

Before I could a pony flew in through the broken window and tackled me. My magic broke and I dropped the mare on the floor. I readied a spell to fire at whoever had just attacked me when I noticed who it was. Pinning me down was The Stranger, his wrapped face a few inches away from mine, his green eyes shining out from under the shadows of his black desperado hat, “Don’t do this Shadow!”

“Get off me!” I yelled, “She’s the reason Aura’s DEAD!”

He hit me in the face then picked me up with his hooves and pinned me to the wall, “I said stop IT! She may be the mare who ordered this, but you still shouldn’t be the one to kill her. It’s bad enough you already killed two of them.”

The mare tried getting back to her hooves again, as she did she said, “Thank you sir, you saved my life.”

Ignoring her The Stranger got closer to me and said in a low voice, “I won’t let you destroy yourself just for Revenge, especially when you don’t have any reason to.”

I looked at him with shock, “I have every reason to. How did you even know I was here?”

He rolled his eyes then hit me in the gut. Air blasted out of my lungs and I doubled over as he let me go. As I sat there gasping for air, The Stranger said, “I’ll tell you later, but right now I’m not going to let you kill anymore Enclave ponies, not like this.”

The mare finally got back to her hooves and she said again, “Sir what is your name so I can reward you for saving my life and for bringing down the mare who’s put us though so much trouble.”

The Stranger turned toward her and walked closer, “I’m the Stallion who protects her,” With his back turned toward me, did something with the bandages around his face. I saw her eyes go wide.

“YOU!” she said.

Replacing the bandages he said, “Yes, me!” as quick as lightning he jumped back pulled out his black revolver and fired one shot into her head. when he fired I saw something glow around the hole in her head for a moment, then the momentum from the bullet snapped the mares head back and she flew out of the open window.

Getting control of my breathing again I got up saying, “She was MINE to kill!”

Turning back to face me, his face now covered again he said, “No she wasn’t. I told you that you don’t have all the information. This stupid mission of yours is only going to get you killed!”

“I DON’T CARE! I want them all dead, Nightshade, Stardust, the whole FUCKING ENCLAVE!” I screamed.

Before he could answer gunfire erupted from the other side of the door. The two of us jumped back, The Stranger saying, “Either way, I’m getting you out of here and bringing you back to The Kingdom, your friends are worried sick about you.”

“Let them worry I’m never going back there,” I said as I moved toward the door, kicked it open and threw a grenade at the pegasi down the hall who were trying to kill us. They jumped back behind the far wall, but the explosion still got two before they could get behind cover, “Just leave me alone, I’m going to go find Stardust and Nightshade and finish what I started.”

“If you aren’t going to listen to reason, then I guess we have to do this the hard way,” he said and before I could turn to see what he was talking about, I felt something sharp poke into my neck.

Reaching up I felt a small dart there, I pulled it out and looked at it then The Stranger, who was standing there holding some kind of makeshift gun, “What did you just do?”

I got my answer, my body went mostly numb and I fell to the floor. He ran over to me and grabbed me, he flew into the air and out the window right as more gunfire erupted in the hall, “I shot you with a weak poison dart, I didn’t have enough to make it last long, but it should last until I get you to safety.”

I tried to say something, but my jaw didn’t want to work. Everything felt numb and puffy like when I was a filly in the dentist office after he said I’d feel a pinch in my mouth. I noticed as we flew away from Mill City Tower, that it was starting to get dark out. We didn’t go far, just a few blocks away where he set me on the roof of a three-story building. When he did he sighed saying, “That’s better, sometimes Shadow I swear you have a death wish.”

Concentrating hard I was able to move my muzzle enough to speak, slowly but I could still talk, “I’ll make you pay for this.”

He smacked me again, “For what? Saving your life!? Do you even know why I’m here?”

“To be a pain in my ass?”

“No, Somepony calling himself Watcher contacted me when I was in The Kingdom talking with your friends. He told me where you were going and what you planned on doing. I came as fast as I could, some zebra named Khalid told me you went into the tower a while ago. He told me what you promised him to get his help after you were done. Don’t worry I’m going to help him and his mother for you once I’m done dealing with you,” he said, his voice growing in anger as he talked.

“This…won’t stop me, I’m going to kill them, even if you do bring me back to The Kingdom,” I replied, I could already feel the poison wearing off.

“Nightshade isn’t your enemy Shadow!”

“He’s just as guilty as the rest of them, he didn’t do anything to stop Stardust when he came after me!”

“He didn’t know until after it was done! Who do you think first sent me to find you when Winter Frost found you? Nightshade did, he’s been looking out for you for weeks. He even did everything he could to try and help you save Stardust. He can’t show all his cards yet, but he’s on your side, if you kill him, nothing will stop whoever replaces him from coming after all of you! He’s not a bad pony!” The Stranger yelled.

“But my mom told me he can’t be trusted,” I said, but I knew I wasn’t going to win this. The more he said, the more I realized how stupid I’ve been.

“Grim doesn’t trust anypony Shadow! She hasn’t for years, she’s paranoid. Ever since she left The Enclave she was always afraid that somepony was going to come take you away from her! That’s why she said not to trust him, she wants you all to herself.”

Finally, I lowered my gaze and let a few tears fall, “This whole time, it was mom who I couldn’t trust, even before she turned into what she is now?”

“I wouldn’t say you can’t trust her, but when it comes to Nightshade or any of your family, she won’t have anything nice to say about them. She can’t change who she is. You can trust Nightshade, if you don’t believe what he’s said to you then trust me.”

Feeling came back to my legs and slowly I got back to my hooves and sighed looking up at the tower that still loomed over the city like a black pillar of death. At the top I saw what must have been a raptor flying away and into the clouds as escort pegasi followed it. As it flew off I asked The Stranger, “How do I forgive Stardust?”

“You have to find a way, remember he isn’t himself right now,” The Stranger replied, “Think about it like this, what would Stardust do if he was in your place right now?”

I knew what he would do. The problem was, The Stranger thought he did, but he didn’t, “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” he asked with a sigh, he looked worn out, his eyes were looking down at his hooves.

“Is there a cloud city above The Twin Cities?”

“No, Nimbus is more northwest of here. Why do you ask?”

“Because I don’t want more innocent ponies to die because of the monsters who run The Enclave,” I said as I pulled out my last resort. Solar Flare’s Range Finder slid out of my saddle bags, and I pointed it right at the top of the tower.

The Stranger looked up and saw what I had in my magical grip. He jumped at me yelling, “NO DON’T!”

He wasn’t fast enough, I pulled the trigger and watched as the small red beam flew out of the end of the strange gun. A much larger symbol formed on the outside of the building, right as The Stranger Tackled me. I was laughing as he took the Range finder away from me, “It’s too late, nothing can stop it once it’s been fired.”

The Screen did what it did before, saying something about matching DNA, then it said more about lining up the shot. He looked at the screen in horror, “There has to be a way to stop it, you can’t do this Shadow! Turn it off!”

I looked up at him and smiled, “No, I can’t. Even if I could I wouldn’t. That building houses most of the ponies who run The Twin Cities for the Enclave and if I’m lucky Stardust is still in there. You told me to do what he would if he was in my place. This is it, he would avenge his friend if I ever did anything as bad as he did.”

“No, he wouldn’t he would’ve tried to save you, Shadow make it STOP!”

A slight yellow glow from four beams of light came crashing through the cloud layer. As they did before they expanded enclosing Mill City Tower in a thin barrier that went up into the heavens. The clouds that were trapped in the barrier vanished in seconds showing the beautiful blue sky beyond. It looked a little green because of the barrier’s color, but it was still a sight that most ponies never saw.

“Stranger this can’t be stopped, either kill me or just watch what happens next. I don’t care either way,” I said as the range finder beeped.

Target Locked!

Solar Flare Firing! Please Stand Back!

A rushing sound filled the air followed by a blinding light that slammed into the tower. It crashed right through lighting up the city like the sun had shown itself right in the center of Whinnieapolis. Then the beam of deadly light expanded until it touched the barrier. Like before it only lasted about ten seconds, only this time the barrier held. Pride must have weakened it before when he tried to escape. The light vanished and a second later so did the thin yellow barrier.

Dust blew out into the city, but apart from that there was nothing left. The skyline where Mill City Tower had once dominated over Whinnieapolis was gone. All that was left was a glowing crater and a little bit of rubble that wasn’t destroyed in the blast itself. When I first fired Solar Flare, I was scared of the destructive power it had. Now I only smiled, nopony in that place was worth saving. I showed The Enclave once again, that I wasn’t a mare they should mess with.

“Shadow, how could you have done that?”

“Easy, I hated everything that place stood for. This is the price they get to pay for killing the ones I love.”

He rounded on me, “I told you before that you’re a fool. I don’t know if I can save you from this Shadow, but I’m still going to try. You’re going back to The Kingdom with me.”

“No, I’m not, I have to make sure Stardust was in that blast, if he wasn’t I’m going to hunt him down like he did to me,” I retorted getting back to my hooves and putting the range finder back into my saddle bags, “Don’t follow me Stranger, if I see you again, I’ll kill you too.”

I started to walk away, but The Stranger walked in front of me, “No, you’re going back to The Kingdom!”

I readied a spell to blast him out of my way, “I’m not going…”

He didn’t let me finish, “That wasn’t a request Shadow!” he quickly pulled out a shining orb from one of his pockets and pressed it to my glowing horn. My magic connected and there was a spark. Before the memory of whatever he had took hold, I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to kill you for this…’

The world melted away, and with it all hope in getting my revenge…

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing Rank 2: You’ve pretty much mastered disguise and the art of deception. You can now use various different disguises to your advantage even when in close proximity to the enemy. Be warned though, allies that have a close relationship to the pony you’re pretending to be could potentially see through your disguise.
DARK PERK ADDED!

Cold Blooded: Wow, you’ve gone pretty dark. With your moral compass turning the way it has, you now have an easier time making the decision to kill somepony rather than sparing them and can quickly think of killing in the cruelest ways imaginable. (Note: This perk also weakens the seal holding Aquila, be careful of the choices you make in the future.)