“An encore it is then.”
Cartwheel, the town that once was plagued by Raiders, but still stood strong, the place that accepted me when I was fresh from my stable, is gone. Cartwheel was Silver Snip’s home, the place where she took on the responsibilities of her mother’s shop and made it into something better. It was the place where the Equestrian Express building was, the place where old Box Tape took me on as a Courier. Even that’s gone, all of it destroyed by the Stallion who ran the Los Alicorn branch of The Steel Rangers… Elder Wolfsbane, no, just Wolfsbane, a stallion as cruel as him doesn’t deserve to be called Elder by me. He’s the pony I once took a chance on and trusted, by destroying Stable 97 and the Devil’s Children Program that was going on in there.
He’s a smart pony, he knew that all he had to do to get my help was tell me he’d give me the information on finding my friend Stardust. I fell for it like a foal, just like the child I really am. Now that I did what he asked, he wants me. Why? I still have no idea, more than likely he wanted The Mark II, just like all the other ponies who knew about it did. Or did he want me because a long time ago, mom said she’d send me to Elder Wolfsbane once I was better? Maybe he didn’t like a mare like me running around and helping ponies the way I did. Whatever the reason, I’m his prisoner now and so are my friends.
The griffons that called themselves The Unchained Talons, are working for Wolfsbane. After the attack on Cartwheel, Wolfsbane, his griffons and his ponies, trapped us near the west gate after it was destroyed. We didn’t stand a chance against the might of Wolfsbane’s forces so surrender. The Griffons carried us away and brought us to the huge air ship Wolfsbane called The Palisade, air ships like that were known as zeppelins, recalling some of the books I remember reading from my mom’s collection. Now we were in cells deep inside the belly of the beast. Aura was in the cell across from me, Wingnut was with Stardust in the cell to my left, Wind Thrasher was next to Aura’s cell, and Yaksha (The strange Zebra who decided to travel with us) was in the cell with me. In the past hour, no pony had come to check on us. The Griffons however did make sure to put a magical blocking ring on my horn so I couldn’t just teleport out. They took all of our stuff, even checking our manes and tails to make sure we weren’t hiding anything.
That meant I didn’t have my bobby pins or my trusty screwdriver. So, picking the lock wasn’t an option, even if I did still have them, with my magic blocked fully, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I was good at picking locks, but only if I had my magic. If I had to use my mouth or hooves, I’d fail. So here we sat, waiting for somepony to come down here and either talk to us, or tell us what they wanted with me. The other problem was, ever since we arrived, I hadn’t seen Vervain. The griffons had taken her somewhere else when we arrived.
“Shadow you have to have some kind of plan, right?” Wingnut asked.
“Sorry kiddo, I’m fresh out of ideas,” I said, leaning against the wall closest to his cell, “But if you have any ideas feel free to share them with me.”
“I’ve been trying to think of something for a while now, but this place is set up a lot better than your Stable’s cells,” Wingnut said with a deep sigh, “Everypony tells me I’m a smart colt, but I can’t seem to come up with some kind of plan that would work.”
Aura was laying on a cot in her own cell, she opened an eye to look over at us when Wingnut finished, “Shadow why don’t you see if you can get a message out to the Talons?”
“I’ve tried that three times now, something’s blocking my broadcaster in here. Even if I could get a message out to them, what good would it do. A lot of griffons would die if they tried to come save us.”
“I doubt it, remember Apollo has good standing with The Steel Rangers even the Los Alicorn branch. If we could somehow get him to talk to Elder Wolfsbane then maybe he could get us out of here without much trouble. My dad is a very good negotiator,” Aura said.
Stardust spoke up, “Even if he is, I don’t think it would do us much good. They may let us go if Apollo talked to the Elder, but he wouldn’t let Shadow go. He wants something from her.”
“He also would not let me go, these Steel Rangers hate my kind,” Yaksha said with a sigh.
“I don’t see why he’d keep you here Yaksha, it’s not like you’ve done anything to Wolfsbane before,” I said.
“True, but I am still a zebra, he will kill me based on that fact alone. The Steel Rangers’ Los Alicorn Branch still seem to think that the war is going on and feel that all zebras need to die in order for Equestria to rise again.” Yaksha said.
Aura said, “Yeah, they are a bunch of ass holes. I mean what’s the big deal with Zebra’s anyway? Yeah there are some like the Romans who want to take over or whatever, but not all zebras are bad. Look at Sheena, she’s a good mare same for a few other zebras I know.”
“I just wish we could think of a way to get us out of here,” I said looking at my Pip-Buck and once again trying to find a signal to broadcast from. I mean I could understand if my Pip-Buck was a normal one and had a broadcaster attached to it, but the Mark II was supposed to be special. I thought this thing had a stronger broadcaster on it.
“Maybe Box Tape will do something to help us, he is the Sentinel isn’t he?” Wingnut asked.
“He is, but that doesn’t mean much to Wolfsbane from the look of it. His ponies ended up attacking him too, well most of them did,” I said, still trying to figure out what I could do with my broadcaster. The menu did bring up a signal, but it was just The Pelican’s emergency broadcast channel. A lot of good that does me.
“What if he called in the Steel Rangers from Hidden Sands?” Stardust asked.
“I’m not sure they’d help, I still don’t know what happened with Appleslice and from what we know so far, it seems like Sapphire took over, but I’m not sure why.” I said giving up with the Mark II and looking over at Wind Thrasher. She hasn’t said a word since we first arrived here. She was just staring at the far wall, “Wind Thrasher are you okay?”
She jumped and looked over at me, her eyes as wide as saucers, “No…”
I noticed her eyes still had a red tint to them, “Is it the blood lust? There isn’t any blood around us right now so why would that be bothering you still?”
She shook her head, “It’s not the blood lust, I don’t know what it is, but ever since they put me in here, I’ve been feeling very…” she grumbles, “claustrophobic.”
“I didn’t think Stable ponies got claustrophobic,” Wingnut said.
“I…don’t like being locked in cages!” she said her voice going higher, “I need to get out, I don’t want to be locked away. It’s just like when Dr. Cell put that collar on me. I’m not a FUCKING ANIMAL!” she yelled, jumping to her hooves and pressing her face to the bars of her cell.
“Calm down Wind Thrasher please, we’ll figure a way out of this,” Stardust said.
“Oh yeah? And who’s going to help us huh, YOU!” she hissed at Stardust, “I’ll get us out of here, then when I find that ass hole I’m going to rip his fucking head off!”
I shook my head, this can’t be good. Her eyes were glowing bright red now, “Wind Thrasher you need to calm down.”
“No, you calm down Shadow!” She froze up for a second then started to babble to herself, “The walls are closing in on me, the cage is getting smaller. Don’t lock me up again, I’ll be good I promise. DON’T LOCK ME UP!”
Out of nowhere she screamed and the power of her voice split through the cell like it did when we were in the cave under Halo One, only this time I wasn’t ready for it, same for the rest of my friends. We all covered our ears, falling to the ground as her scream went on. I tried to say something, but my voice didn’t work. My ears felt like something hot was leaking out of them and my vision started to go black. Then when I thought I was going to pass out, she stopped her scream.
A moment passed and all I could hear was a high-pitched ringing noise. Then when my hearing started to come back, Wind Thrasher started to ram her body against the bars of her cell, “Let me out, let me out, LET ME OUT!”
Yaksha moaned then got to her hooves, she worked her jaw around like she was trying to get her ears to pop then asked, “I know that Wind Thrasher is part bat pony, but does she have another kind of DNA in her as well?”
“Why do you ask?” I asked her as I watched my friend slam her body against the cell door, again and again.
“Because bats like dark enclosed spaces, being in that cell should not be making her act like this.”
“She’s part Dragon too,” Wingnut said, “Fuck that hurt.”
“Shit, that would explain it,” Yaksha said.
“What do you mean?” Aura asked.
“Dragons cannot stand to be trapped, they are creatures that love to roam around freely. They are damn near impossible to control and very temperamental when things do not go their way, i.e. being caged.”
Wind Thrasher looked over at her and hissed, “Shut the fuck up Zebra, you don’t know anything. I’m a pony! Not a fucking Dragon!”
“If that is so, then stop acting like one, I know more than you think.” Yaksha said.
Wind Thrasher yelled, then she went back to slamming herself against the bars. “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill them all starting with you Zebra!” Then she stopped, “I’ll break them down one way or another,” she opened her muzzle again getting ready to scream.
“WIND THRASHER STOP!” We all covered our ears, but right as I said ‘stop’ the door down the hall opened. Wolfsbane and the young unicorn mare who trapped my uncle in the crystal walked in. He looked over at Wind Thrasher and sighed, “I’m assuming that horrible sound came from you monster.”
She grinned at him, her fangs shining in the dim light, “Sure was, if you let me out come I’ll give you a privet performance, or maybe your plaything standing next to you will want a sample. Plenty to go around.”
“You’re not going anywhere, now shut up before I make you,” he said.
“An encore it is then,” Wind Thrasher said opening her muzzle to scream again.
The mare stepped forward her horn glowing, “Time for a nap, this one’s a little cranky.”
The Mare’s horn flashed, Wind Thrasher’s eyes dropped and she fell forward. She was sleeping before she even hit the ground. Wolfsbane shook his head, “Thank you Sherbert.”
“Why didn’t we leave that one down in Cartwheel?” the mare asked.
“Because she’s dangerous and I didn’t want to risk her coming after us. She’s also from Stable 9, she may know more about the Mark II’s,” Wolfsbane said walking past Wind Thrasher’s cell and over to mine.
“You better not hurt my friends Wolfsbane or you’ll regret it,” I growled.
He yawned, “It’s been a long day Courier, I don’t feel like trading banter with you right now.”
“To fucking bad because I have nothing better to do than to insult you until I run out of ideas.”
The mare Wolfsbane called Sherbert came closer her horn glowing a dull orange, “Listen, we can make this easy or hard. Either shut your yap or I’ll make you.”
I laughed, “Go ahead and try bitch.”
She gasped, “Did you just call me a bitch!? I’ll have you know I’m the youngest unicorn to ever became a senior scribe.”
“So what, you still look like a bitch,” I said laughing again.
Her orange eyes flashed and she retorted, “At least I’m not a slit licking freak like you!”
Aura jumped off her cot, “You better hope I don’t get out of here unicorn. Nopony talks to my mare that way!”
Sherbert turned toward Aura a look of disgust on her face, “Gross, you mean you’re the one she’s doing things with. That’s wrong in so many ways.”
Aura lunged at the Unicorn her talons just scratching across her nose. The young unicorn yelped and jumped back, “Oh you’ll pay for that GRIFFON!”
“Enough Sherbert,” Wolfsbane barked.
The unicorn looked at her Elder, “But she just…”
“I don’t care, Aura is off limits,” he said before looking back at Aura, “My apologies Aura, Sherbert’s from an isolated village to the north. Her village is highly against same sex relationships and she hasn’t adjusted her view of the world yet.”
“Bite me Wolfsbane. I’ll have you know that once Gigi or Apollo find out you have us here, they’ll make you wish you were never born.”
“I’m not worried about your mother Aura or Apollo, they can’t do anything against us. Right now, the only reason I’m not letting Sherbert do anything to you is because Gina said she wanted you left unharmed. Now be quiet before I decide to ignore her request.”
“Aura just let it be,” I said “Wolfsbane what do you want?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask Shadow. I thought you would have figured it out by now,” he said looking back at me.
“The Mark II I’m guessing.”
He shrugged, “Yes and no.”
“Then what do you need her for?” Stardust asked.
He shrugged, “Her mother promised me that Shadow here would be sent to Los Alicorn when she was cured. She’s a powerful unicorn that doesn’t have any control over her power. Grim didn’t stay long enough in Stable 28 to teach her anything. If Grim had taken Shadow with her when she left, then we wouldn’t be here today. She would’ve grown up in Los Alicorn as a Scribe maybe even a Knight or Paladin.”
Wingnut spoke up, “So, your collecting on a payment from Shadow’s mother?”
I frowned saying, “That makes me sound like I’m a slave.”
“Not a slave, no, I don’t believe in slavery. It’s a disgusting practice.” Wolfsbane said with a yawn.
“Then what do you call one pony selling another pony to somepony like you?” I asked.
“I call it an investment. I’ve searched for ten years to find unicorns with as much raw ability as Grim and you have. That’s how I found Sherbert, she is powerful and her own parents couldn’t teach her how to control her magic. I took her in and with the help of some of my older scribes we were able to get her to control her magic. That was the deal I had with Grim. She knew that once Shadow was cured, she wouldn’t be able to teach her how to control her magic. I found that surprising since Grim is a powerful unicorn herself, but there you have it. She needed my help to find information on where the Mark II was so she could cure Shadow…or Morning Star back then, my price was that she sent Shadow to me so she could learn to use her magic the right way without hurting herself.”
“I don’t buy that for a second Wolfsbane, mom was already teaching me how to use my magic before she left,” I said.
“I’m sure she was, but let me ask you this. How much did she teach you? Did she teach you how to Teleport? Did she teach you how to use that expulsion spell?”
“No…she didn’t. She taught me how to use my Telekinesis, and how to control it better than most unicorns can,” I said.
“As I thought, I’m guessing you learned how to Teleport all on your own, same for the other spell you know.”
I nodded, “I read something in a spell book I found in Stable 28’s library and learned how they both worked. I didn’t know I could do them until later.”
“That makes sense. You see from what Grim told me about you when you were still a foal, you used magic as a new born. You don’t hear about that kind of thing happening anymore. Your family thought you’d end up being more powerful than even your uncle Pride.”
I sighed, “Yeah, I get it, they thought I was powerful, what does this have to do with me now? And why the fuck did you come after me like you did!?”
“You mean the attack on Cartwheel?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
“Damn right!”
“I did that because I knew you were with The Sentinel. If he saw me coming, he wouldn’t have let me take you. I also knew that after I asked you to join my Steel Rangers back near the Stable and you refused, that you wouldn’t just come with me willingly either. So, I decided to take you by force.”
“Worked too,” Sherbert said with a giggle.
“Sherbet did I say you can speak?”
Sherbert looked away “Sorry Sir”
Aura spoke next, “So you destroyed an entire town and killed all the ponies there for that?”
He turned to look at her, “Not just that, I also needed to capture the bat pony too. We saw what happened to her in Whinnieapolis and we couldn’t risk her going crazy again. We had to strike fast and hard to capture you both. The rest of you were just a bonus. As to why I destroyed Cartwheel that’s a lot easier to explain. I hated that town and the Sentinel the lived there, I wanted it wiped off the face of our world for good, so you could say I killed three birds with one stone. I captured the bat pony, captured the Courier, and destroyed the town I hated more than any other.”
I slammed myself against the bars of my cell, “You’re a fucking monster!”
He grinned, “There it is, there’s the anger I’ve been waiting to see.”
Yaksha put a hoof in front of me as if she were stopping me from moving forward, “Shadow that is enough, now is not the time for anger.”
She was right, if I didn’t watch it, I’d make the same mistakes I did in Whinnieapolis. So, I took in a deep breath and stepped away from the bars with my back facing Wolfsbane looking at her, “You’re right Yaksha, he’s not worth it.”
He frowned looking over at Yaksha, “Keep your muzzle shut zebra, you’re lucky I still haven’t killed you.”
“And you are lucky you had so many ponies with you when you took us in, or I would have killed you,” Yaksha replied.
“Doubtful,” he said looking back at me, “You think I’m a monster, do you? You don’t know anything about me Shadow, I’ve done more for the wasteland than you can ever imagine.”
“You destroyed a town and killed the ponies there because you hated one old buck, a buck you didn’t even kill. Yeah, you’re a monster.”
He laughed, “One town with not many ponies living there, I never used a Super Weapon on a town like Appleton or the Mill City Tower like you did.”
As he spoke Sherbert pulled out the Range Finder with her magic, “I’m surprised she was able to do that with something like this? It looks like a stupid toy.”
“GIVE THAT BACK!” I yelled.
She laughed “Hah, no way, I want to take it apart and see how it works,” she said sticking her tongue out at me.
“Are you worried that I’m going to let her use it to destroy something Shadow?” Wolfsbane asked.
“Duh, that thing shouldn’t be in any ponies’ hooves, let alone a pony like you,” Wingnut said from his cell.
“This weapon only works for some ponies. It has a spell gem inside of it that works like a biometric scanner. Only the ponies that are on the spell or their descendants of that pony can fire it,” Sherbert said, putting the Range Finder back into her robes.
“That’s right, I’m assuming you’re descended from one of those ponies Shadow. So only you can fire it, maybe a couple other ponies, I won’t know until I have Sherbert look it over,” Wolfsbane said, “Now enough about all of this, it’s time you started to tell me what you know about Project Aquila.”
As he said this Aquila said to me, “How does he know about that? Everypony calls it Stargazer.”
I pushed her back in my mind replying, “What the hell is Project Aquila?”
“Don’t play dumb with me Shadow, I know all about the Project and the power that was created by the Children of the Night with Stargazer. I know that it was renamed Project Aquila by Minuette. I also know that was the power Grim used to save your life, because only something like that could have done so. Now tell me what you know,” he said.
“Fuck you,” Stardust said from his cell, “Why should she tell you anything?”
“Yeah fuck you Wolfsbane!” Wingnut said as well.
I could tell Stardust was holding back a laugh, putting a serious face back on “You heard what he said.”
The Elder glared over at them then sighed, “One more word out of any of you and you’ll be the first ponies I kill to make Shadow tell me what I want to know.”
“I’m not talking Wolfsbane!” I said, “Even if I did know what you were talking about, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Why, because you’re still trying to protect your mother, or because you want me to think you still don’t remember your past?” he asked.
“I don’t remember my past!”
Sherbert laughed, “You’re full of shit, we know that you remember everything. Wolfsbane told me that your mom took away your memories, so I checked the spell when we brought you in, the spell’s gone so stop lying.”
I glared at her, “I really don’t like you.”
Sherbert smiled, “Good because I hate you.”
I grinned at her, “Ah really? Because now that I’m getting a better look at you, your kind of cute. I don’t know what it is, maybe I have a thing for bitches, but I bet you’re really fun in bed. I’m sure you’d show Aura and I a thing or two.”
Sherbert’s eyes went wide, “Take that back! I’d never do anything as disgusting as that with a pony like you or that fucking GRIFFON!”
“Calm down Sherbert, she’s just trying to anger you,” Wolfsbane said, but the mare ignored her Elder.
“I don’t know, you shouldn’t talk about something you’ve never tried before,” I grinned and continued, “Sherbert huh, isn’t that some kind of sweet treat, I wonder if you taste like Sherbert. I’d LOVE to find out.”
Aura seemed to catch on to what I was doing, “I bet she does, I wouldn’t mind having a taste.”
Yaksha caught on quick and grinned evilly, “I once tried something with a mare named Black Liquorice.”
I continued “Oh really, and did she taste like it?”
Yaksha nodded keeping her evil grin up, “Oh she did.”
“Oh really?” I said, “Now I’m really curious, hey Sherbert, if you give me a taste I may be in a better mood to help your Elder out. Oh and the best part is you’ll get a new name out of it. RAINBOW SHERBERT! Wouldn’t that just be great for all of us?”
The young mare broke as she ran right up to the bars her horn glowing, “I’ll make you pay for that you sick FU…”
I lunged forward and slammed my hoof down on her horn. The mare screamed as she lost hold of her magic and I wrapped a hoof around her and flipped her around holding her against the bars, “There we go, much better. Now we can talk like mature adults.”
Wolfsbane had a gun out pointing it at me, “Let her go Shadow.”
I moved my face closer to Sherbert’s and smiled as I kissed one of her ears, “Why? She’s so cute Wolfsbane and she did get a little too close to my cell. I thought she was smart.”
The mare started to kick, but I held on tight as she yelled, “Let me go before I turn you into dust!”
“I mean it Shadow, let her go,” Wolfsbane said getting closer to me, “Now!”
I waited for a moment then said, “Not until you let my friends go Wolfsbane.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes you can, you’re the Elder, you make the rules here,” as I said this, the mare’s horn started to glow again. I slammed my free hoof on it again, “Tut tut dear Sherbert None of that, trust me, you can’t cast a spell fast enough.”
“If you don’t let her go Shadow, I’ll kill the colt!” he said in a low threatening voice.
I grinned, “Do that and I’ll kill her, one quick twist and her neck breaks. It’s as easy as one…two…”
“Then you’ll be down a hostage and a friend, I’ll just be down one unicorn out of dozens.”
Damn he was a cold bastard, but I can’t back down, “If this is how you view the ponies who serve you then I know for sure that I don’t want to be one of them.” I thought for a moment and then looked at Sherbet “See that Sherbert, he doesn’t see you as important enough to spare.”
He smiled at me and moved his gun to point at Wingnut in the other cell saying over the bit, “You don’t understand Shadow, I’m not worried about Sherbert, because I know you. You won’t let one of your friends die.”
“Shadow just let her go, he’s not gonna back down,” Aura said to me from her cell.
I looked at the Elder for a long moment, then cursed and pushed the mare away, “Fine, have your temper tantrum waiting to happen back.”
Sherbert coughed then glared over at me, “I’m going to kill you for that!”
“Uh oh, looks like it might happen sooner rather than later, just sayin’,” I said ignoring her outburst. “Just remember what Wolfsbane thinks about one his so-called best unicorns Sherbert.”
Wolfsbane holstered his gun then said, “Sherbert calm down and go, I think we should let Shadow and her friends stay in here for a little while longer.”
“But sir…”
“I said go,” he said glaring at her, “Before I decide to have you punished for letting yourself get captured for something so stupid.”
She took in a deep breath lowering her head, “Yes sir.”
She turned and headed out of the cells, when she was gone Wolfsbane said, “Now if you’re done acting like a filly, I’d like to finish this before we move out.”
“Move out? What do you mean?” Aura asked.
“Soon we will be leaving for Los Alicorn,” he said, “Now, Shadow I still want my question answered, what happened to Project Aquila. Grim used it I know that much, but she doesn’t have that power now, I need to know what happened to it.”
I just smiled laying on the ground with my head resting on my hooves “I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Fine, if you want to play it like that, then I’ll just have to get the information out of one of your friends,” he said turning toward Aura, “How about we start with you, I’m sure I can get Gina to make you talk.”
Aura just smiled, “Gina was the one who taught me how to withstand torture, not even she can make me talk. Even if she could, I don’t know anything about this project, I’m just a bodyguard.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said heading toward the door, “You all have a half hour before I get back with Gina, if I were you I’d start thinking about telling me what I want to know.”
“Wolfsbane wait!” I yelled.
He turned, “What?”
“What did you do with Vervain?”
He smiled again, “She’s alive if that’s what you’re wondering,” then he continued out the door.
“Oh no, Mr. Principal says we should sit here and think about stuff. Whatever shall we do with ourselves besides tell him the Goddesses honest truth about everything? Think of an escape plan? Not us,” Wingnut said sarcastically then whispered, “We’re supposed to be heroes but look, captured by the bad guys once again.
Aura glared over at me, “What the fuck were you thinking taking her hostage, did you think that would really work!?”
“Nope, but I wasn’t trying to get him to let us go,” I said.
“Then what was that all about Shadow?” Yaksha said, “It is a little embarrassing for me to tell random strangers about the lustful fun I had as a young mare.”
“I didn’t even know you liked mares Yaksha, I just wanted to make that unicorn angry.”
She blushed so hard looking away it looked cute, “I…was just trying to help.”
“Anyway, what was that all about then Shadow?” Aura asked.
I smiled lifting a small green gem on a small chain, “Saw this hanging on her robes, and figured it was important.”
“What is that?” Aura asked.
“I want to see!” Wingnut said.
Yaksha smiled seemingly recovered from her embarrassment, “Clever mare you are full of surprises Shadow Star. That looks like a gem that will let Shadow take off her magic canceling ring.”
“That’s what I figured as well,” I said lifting the gem up and touching it to the ring. I felt a small spark in my horn and I was able to pull the ring off, “I love it when I’m right.”
“Are you sure that will help? I mean we are still locked in here.” Aura asked.
“Why else put something like that on me?” I concentrated, wrapped Yaksha in my magic and teleported us both out of the cell, “Yep, I think we’re good.”
“Nice, now how are you going to get us out of here?” Aura asked, “And what about Wind Thrasher?”
I looked over at Wind Thrasher who was still laying on the floor of her cell, “We’ll have to bring her, I’m sure she’ll be better once we’re out of here.”
Yaksha looked over at Wind Thrasher, “As long as she does not attack us, I cannot tell if that threat she said was real.”
Wingnut replied, “She won’t, now can we please get OUT OF HERE.”
“Yeah, I gotcha Kiddo.” Once again I Teleported into their Cell, got them out, and did the same with Aura and Wind Thrasher. Once I was done my vision was a little blurry, but it didn’t last long. Maybe I was getting stronger with my magic. A few weeks ago, there was no way I’d be able to do this.
“Damn that feels weird,” Stardust said shaking his head, “How do you do that all the time?”
I just shrugged, “It doesn’t feel weird to me, maybe it’s because you’re not a unicorn.”
“Doesn’t matter, let’s get out of here, somepony wake Wind Thrasher up.” Aura said, “Shadow what’s the plan?”
“We figure out how to get outside and we fly out of here. I figured that shouldn’t be too hard since three of us can fly,” I said, “That is if Wind Thrasher is calm.”
Wingnut was already shaking the Bat Pony, “Wind Thrasher wake up!”
She jumped then looked up at Wingnut, “What happened?”
“You freaked out and that Unicorn knocked you out,” I said.
She shook her head then looked around, “Did they let us go?”
“No, we’re escaping, are you going to be okay or are we going to have to tie you up,” Aura said.
She nodded, “I’m feeling okay, I just didn’t like being locked up again.”
“Well that’s a relief, let’s go before they figure out we escaped,” Aura said, “We also have to find our gear, and get the Range Finder back.”
“I agree, maybe if we’re lucky we can take Wolfsbane down while we do it,” I said heading toward the door.
Stardust was right behind me as we moved, “What if Wolfsbane figured out that you’d try something like this? It could all be a trap.”
“Then it’s a stupid plan, if he thinks he knows so much about me then he should know that letting me escape won’t work in his favor,” I said as I opened the door. It led into another room filled with lockers. Even better from the look of it, our things were tossed on one table.
“Okay now I’m really thinking this is a trap,” Stardust said as he walked over and grabbed his Saddle Bags.
I took my own, checking that all of my weapons were still there. They were and even better my barding was lying next to my bags, “Either way, at least we have our own weapons, they even left my Plasma Rifle.”
“That thing really needs a name,” Wingnut said as he put on his smaller combat armor and picked up Ol’ Festus and his revolver.
“I agree with Shadow, it will be a lot easier to get out of here with our weapons,” Aura said picking up her spear, “Damn I missed this.”
Stardust stood in front of us, “Fine, if we are going to do this then we’re doing this the smart way. First, we need to find The Range Finder then we need to find a way off this fucking thing. We can’t take the time to try and kill Wolfsbane or the rest of the Rangers here.”
“NO way, I’m going to make him pay for what he did to Cartwheel,” I said.
“No, we can’t do that, especially if this is a trap. Wolfsbane knows more than he should, that means he’s been watching you. If he planned on you escaping then he knows you’ll come looking for him, just like you did when you thought I killed Aura. We can’t play his game, we have to cheat. Getting away is the main goal here.”
I stomped a hoof, “Fine, but we also have to find my uncle and Vervain.”
Aura looked over at me, “I thought you’d be happy to have him gone?”
“I know, but he’s not as bad as I thought and he has been helping me.”
“Yeah, he also killed Silver or did you forget that,” Aura said.
“No, I haven’t but I’m also not going to just leave him with Wolfsbane when he’s been doing his best to help me. I haven’t forgiven him for what he did, but I’m trying.”
Wind Thrasher smiled, “That’s the way to do it Shadow, you have to try and forgive, violence is not the answer.”
“I thought violence was always the answer?” Wingnut said.
Wind Thrasher looked over at Wingnut, “I’ll admit that sometimes you can’t help violence, but you should always try not to make that your first choice.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Stardust said, “Fine if we have to do this then we’re going to have to split up.”
“No way, we’re not doing that,” I said.
“He has a point Shadow, it’s the only way we can get away and save everypony,” Aura said.
“I just know something’s going to go wrong. You know the old saying ‘whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.’”
“Maybe, but it’s the only way we can do this,” Stardust said, “Aura you go with Shadow and Wingnut. Wind Thrasher, Yaksha and I will go look for that Mare and see if she still has the Range Finder, you three see if you can find Vervain.”
“Hey I thought I was the leader of this group.”
Stardust facehooved “Are you serious Shadow? Is now the time to be talking about that?”
I smirked, “No I’m not serious, I had you going for a second there, your idea is fine, but if something goes wrong get out of here as quick as you can and get the Talons,” I said, “Also see if Sherbert has my uncle.”
“I will, now let’s go,” Stardust said.
With Stardust, Yaksha and Wind Thrasher leaving down a hall following a sign that said ‘Scribes’ on the wall. Wingnut, Aura and I went the other direction. We weren’t sure where Vervain was, but something told me that she’d be near Wolfsbane’s room. A sign on the wall said ‘Elder’ on it, I just hope that she’s still alive.
“So, what’s the plan if we run into Steel Rangers?” Wingnut asked.
“Kill them if we can, run if we can’t,” I said keeping my Plasma rifle and very sharp sword out.
My sword seemed to have caught Aura’s attention, she wanted to look at it closer, “Where did you find that Shadow? I’ve seen you using it before but I’ve never got a good look at it.”
I looked down at the Sword, “I found it in the ruins next to the Kingdom, the thing is very sharp. I was able to cut through even Steel Ranger armor with it.”
“That looks like Misery.”
I stopped and looked at the black blade with the silvery edge to it, “What’s Misery?”
“One of the twin swords that belonged to Greta, they went missing when she left the Red Talons. I’ve only heard stories about them from Tonto,” she replied.
Wingnut looked back at us whispering, “Do we really have time for this?”
“Sorry Boss,” she said, “We can talk about it later. If that is Misery then we’ll have to go see Tonto when we can, he’ll know for sure. Just don’t lose it!”
“I don’t plan to, it’s a great weapon,” I said as we came to an intersection and Wingnut checked to make sure nopony was coming.
“It looks clear, but it looks like a few ponies are sleeping down the hall to the left.” He said
“Good work Kiddo, this sign here says the Elder’s room is to the right. Let’s just make sure to keep as quiet as we can,” I said.
We all snuck down the hall, it wasn’t long and ended in a small open area with three doors and a huge ladder that lead down farther into the Palisade. The door just in front of us had a plaque that said, ‘Wolfsbane’ on it. Moving closer to the door I took a moment to listen. I couldn’t hear anything so slowly I opened the door, my sword ready for anything.
Nopony was in the room, not even Vervain, “Damn it.”
“She’s not here, I’ll go check the other two rooms. See what you can find while I’m doing that,” Aura said.
“Yeah, good idea,” I said looking over at Wingnut, “Hey Kiddo, keep an eye out while I check out the room.”
“Can do, just make it quick,” he said moving over to the door and watching for anypony coming while Aura started to check the other rooms.
I walked over to a terminal on the far desk and tried to log in. I wasn’t surprised to see that it was locked. I hooked the Mark II into it and watched as the hacking software went to work. To my surprise, the Mark II was able to bypass the security in only a few seconds. I guess Wolfsbane’s terminal was one of the easier terminals to hack. A moment passed then the screen came up with a few options.
Mark II Locations (Updated)
Mission Notes
Trusted Elders
Branches to Take Down
Locations of Stables
Places The Courier has Visited (Updated)
Project Stargazer (Unknown)
Project Grim is Working on (Needs Update)
Investigation on Missing Elder Appleslice and Details for the Courier.
I knew we didn’t have time for me to look into all the files, so I uploaded them to the Mark II. The last file though, I had to look at that before I left. If Elder Wolfsbane knew what happened to Appleslice, then I wanted to know as well.
Log 1
I sent a request to meet with the Elder of the Hidden Sands Steel Rangers Appleslice. I got a response from her that she wanted to meet outside of Cartwheel, I’m not sure why. I hate that town more than I hate the damned Synths that roam around Los Alicorn, but this is her area and I’ll go where she needs me to. The problem is she was supposed to meet me yesterday and there still hasn’t been any word from her or her troops. I’ve been trying to reach the Bunker, but I’m not getting a response from anypony there. I’m going to talk to this Courier Mare soon, once the mission with Stable 28 is over and try to get her to help me with Stable 97, then I’ll try to see what I can learn about Elder Appleslice’s whereabouts.
Log 2
The Courier left yesterday, she took the bait and is heading to Stable 97 to help her friend. That foal has no idea what’s she’s in for, either she’ll fail and die which makes getting the Pip-Buck a lot easier, or she’ll succeed like she always seems to. If she does, then I’ll still be able to get what I need from that Stable, my mole inside The Enclave will let me know either way.
I still haven’t heard from Appleslice, I’ve tried sending a message to the Bunker again and I ended up getting one of the Star Paladins, Sapphire, she’s trying to tell me she’s the new Elder. How can this be? Did something happen to Appleslice? I’m going to send some of my Paladins and Knights to check it out. If something happened to the Elder, I need to know. For that matter, Sapphire hasn’t been a Star Paladin for very long. From the reports I got about her, she’s only in her second year. Noodle Cup or Sandstorm should have been the ones to take over.
I’ll need to see what else I can find out, I worked hard to get Appleslice put into power in Hidden Sands. After I had Crackerjack kill her father, I knew she’d be the right pony to lead them. She doesn’t ever interfere with my plans. This Sapphire is an unknown to me, I don’t know how she thinks or what she’s like. Hell, from my reports, she had a hoof in killing Crackerjack. I had him keeping an eye out for anypony from Stable 28 and thanks to her, he died! Years of work and planning down the drain thanks to that bitch, the Courier, and a fucking Dashite.
Anyway, I’m going to see what I can find.
Log 3
I just heard back from my contact in the Enclave. It looks like the Courier was able to get into the Stable and better yet, she cleared the place out of all the Enclave ponies that were there. I’m sending my contact there to get as much information as he can about this memory machine before this new High Council Pony Nightshade does something.
Speaking of Nightshade, I don’t like what I’m hearing about this pegasus. I need to do something about him, maybe I can use the Courier. For some reason he seems to care about her, maybe I can use this to my advantage. I’ll have to think about this…
Log 4
You’ve got to be kidding me! I just heard back from my contact… That fucking bitch Courier locked the Stable with her Mark II. I should have known she’d pull something like this. All my plans for that place and now I can’t even get in! I’m going to make her pay for this, when she gets back I’ll make her wish she never double crossed me. Mark my words, I’ll make the entire wasteland understand why you don’t help a pony like her!
“Hey Shadow did you find anything?” Wingnut asked.
“I think so, it seems like Wolfsbane had more plans for Stable 97 like I thought. He also has a pony in the Enclave working for him, they checked the Stable and found that I locked it down. There’s more but we don’t have time to talk about it,” I said turning away from the terminal.
“I guess you were right about his plans for Stardust’s Stable huh,” Wingnut said, “Are you almost done?”
“I think so,” I started to say, then there was a beep on the terminal, turning I saw a message came up on it.
Incoming Transmission from Stratus.
“Huh, I wonder who would be sending a transmission to Wolfsbane from Stratus,” I said clicking a button to answer the message.
A second passed then a voice I knew came out of the terminal, “Okay Wolfsbane, I got your message from about you having Shadow. What do you want, and if I found you hurt her in any way, you’ll need more than that fucking Zeppelin to save your ass!” I heard Nightshade say.
“Nightshade?” I asked.
“Who is this!?” Nightshade asked.
“It’s me, Shadow.”
“Shadow? How the hell did you get Wolfsbane’s Terminal? I thought he captured you?”
“He did, I got out. It’s kinda my thing if you haven’t noticed. I’m trying to find my Auntie Vervain and he stole the Range Finder.”
“Shit, that’s not good. I saw what he did to Cartwheel, Stratus is on edge right now with what’s been going on. If he has that damned weapon too, that’s not good,” Nightshade said.
“I’m not sure if he can use it, I think the Range Finder can only be used by some ponies.”
“It must have a biometric Scanner on it, well at least there is some good news. Still you need to get it back Shadow, I’ll see if I can get you some help. Whatever you do, try not to fight Wolfsbane. He’s a lot stronger than you, even out of his armor.”
“I know that, I think one of the Scribes has it, I have Stardust and Wind Thrasher looking for her.”
“Good, I’ll send the Guardian down there as soon as I can. Try your best to get off that thing, from the looks of it you’re still hovering over Cartwheel.”
“Wait before you go Nightshade.”
“What?”
“When I’m out of here I need to talk to you about my dad,” I said.
A long moment went by then he said, “I’ll see if I can set up a time to come meet you. For now, you need to get out of there. Try to get to the top of that thing, there’s a large landing platform, The Guardian will meet you there.”
“Thanks Nightshade.”
“I’m glad I was able to help, stay safe Shadow.”
“I will.”
As Nightshade cut the connection to the terminal, Aura came back into the room, “Shadow, Vervain isn’t here, we need to get out of here before somepony finds us.”
“We’ll head to the top of this thing, I just talked to Nightshade, he’s sending The Stranger down here to help us,” I said as I hooked my Mark II into the terminal again and locking it.
Wingnut looked over at me asking, “What are you doing Shadow?”
“Locking his terminal so he can’t use it anymore, mostly to fuck with Wolfsbane, but also because it looks like there’s information on here that he may need and I don’t want him to be able to get it.”
“Not a bad idea,” Aura said, “If we’re heading to the top of this thing, then how will we let Wind Thrasher, Yaksha and Stardust know?”
“We’re going to have to trust that they’ll find their way up there or off this thing,” I said.
“I think we should go get them,” Wingnut said
“I guess you’re right,” I said with sigh, “Let’s hurry though, I don’t want to spend any more time here.”
“Same here, also Shadow have you tried to reach The Red Talons?” Aura asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it yet,” I said checking my Pip-Buck, sure enough the signal was there now, “Looks like I can reach them, what do you want to do?”
“Send a message then let’s go, if mom can help she’ll send help if not, at least we tried. But talk as we move, Wingnut you lead the way,” Aura said as Wingnut moved out the door.
“Why am I leading? I’m a kid y’know,” he complained.
“Because you’re short and a colt the rangers might not fire on you right away. Plus you’re old enough to foal-sit so I wouldn’t say kid, maybe young angsty adult.”
“Good point, but I still don’t like it. Also, what does angsty mean?” he said as he led us on.
As he moved I started my message to the Red Talons, “This is Shadow Star, I’m requesting help from the Red Talons. Steel Rangers from Los Alicorn attacked Cartwheel and took my friends and I prisoner. They are also working with The Unchained Talons. Gigi or any of the other Leaders of The Red Talons please come help us. We are on The Palisade,” Once I finished I set the message to repeat.
“Good job, now I just hope mom gets that in time,” Aura said as we rounded the corner heading back the way we came and almost ran right into a Steel Ranger.
The Stallion was in his armor, but his helmet was off. His eyes went wide as he said, “How the hell did you…”
I pulled my sword out and pointed it right at his eye, “One more word and I bury this deep into your skull.”
He blinked then nodded. Aura smiled, “He’s a smart buck.”
“He sure is, now tell me where is Paladin Vervain?” I asked.
“She’s on the landing platform. Wolfsbane wanted to set an example to the rest of Rangers to why we don’t help ponies like you,” he said.
“Where’s Wolfsbane?” Aura asked.
“He just finished up with Senior Scribe Sherbert, they are both heading up to the landing Platform right now. They said something about taking care of some old buck,” he said.
“Good now get out of that armor,” I said.
He looked at me confused, “Why?”
“Do it or die.”
“Fuck you, Steel Rangers don’t ever get out…” he started to yell.
I jammed the sword into his eye. He stiffened, twitched then fell. When he did a loud clang filled the hall, Wingnut winced saying, “That’s gonna wake the neighbors.”
As he said that voices came from the way we just came, “What the hell was that!?”
“No idea, let’s go check it out,” Another voice said.
“We should run now,” I said pulling my sword out of the dead Rangers head running past him.
We just rounded another corner when gun fire erupted behind us, “The Prisoners escaped, sound the alarm!”
“Yep, called it,” Wingnut said as we ran on. An alarm started to go off as we reached a set of stairs.
“This might take us up to the Landing Platform,” I said.
“What about Stardust?” Wingnut asked.
“Kiddo, we need to get out of here, the halls are too narrow for us to fight. Stardust will find us don’t worry,” I said.
“Already found you Shadow,” Stardust said as Wind Thrasher and Yaksha came running down the hall behind him, “We figured it would be best to get to the top of this thing to escape.”
“The Stranger is on his way to help us too, we also think Vervain is up there,” I said as we ran up the steps.
“Wolfsbane and that loud mouth unicorn are up there as well Shadow. We saw them when we reached the Scribe’s room,” Yaksha said.
“Did you find the Range Finder or my Uncle?” I asked.
Stardust pulled out the Range Finder, “She just left it sitting on her desk, Yaksha had no problem getting it. No signs of that gem that they trapped Pride in though.”
“Oricalcos not Pride,” I said, “either way, that bitch must still have him with her.”
“Most likely, if I were to guess, she wants to make sure that he cannot break out of that spell trap,” Yaksha said.
“Can he do that?” I asked.
“I do not know. I know nothing about his power, but a spell trap like she used is meant to keep dark power contained. A gem like that can hold a small amount of darkness in it for a while, if he is powerful, he can break out of it after some time,” Yaksha said as we started working out way up the steps.
I heard more Rangers in power armor running toward us from one of the hallways, “I’m going to assume you’re right, now let’s get out of here.”
It didn’t take us long to reach the top where we ran into a metal trap door, Aura came up behind me saying, “We have to be careful now, we don’t know what to expect up here.”
“They went up toward the Landing Platform, hurry!” I heard one of the steel rangers say
“Fuck,” I said pushing on the Trap Door, “No time to wait, I’d rather deal with Wolfsbane than the Rangers down there.”
“Yeah me too,” Wingnut said as I pushed open the door and moved out into the open air.
We all crawled out onto a large metal platform that was built on top of the Palisade. A couple of Sky Carriages were tied down at one side, the tops of the cliffs next to Cartwheel were close to that same side as well. Standing in the center of the Platform was Wolfsbane in his demonic looking Power Armor. Standing next to him was Sherbert, and hanging by her hooves on a post that was welded to the platform was Vervain. She had been taken out of her Power armor, her face was puffy and she looked worse for wear.
“AUNTIE VERVAIN!” I yelled.
She looked up at me and said, “Shadow Sweetie, you need to run!”
Wolfsbane chuckled with in his armor, “Very good job Shadow Star, I knew you’d find a way out of your cell,” As he spoke ten ponies in power armor pushed their way out of the trap door behind us, forcing us to move away.
“What is this all about Wolfsbane!” I yelled, “Why do any of this? I helped you.”
He moved closer to me, “Easy Shadow, I want you. I want your power, and better yet, I want your mother!”
“My mother has lost her mind, she doesn’t know I’m even alive, and what power are you talking about!?” I yelled.
“Enough lies, I know about the power inside of you Shadow, I’ve known the whole time. I need that power if Equestria is ever going to be whole again, as for your mother, I want her to pay the price everypony pays when they defy me like she did. Her betrayal set me back TEN YEARS!”
“If you knew this whole time about Aquila, then why didn’t you just say something? You didn’t have to do any of this, you didn’t need to DESTROY CARTWHEEL!”
Before I knew it, a hoof came up and slammed into my face, sending me rolling along the metal platform, “Cartwheel had nothing to do with you Shadow. I’ve wanted a reason to destroy that town for YEARS! You just gave me the perfect excuse to do so.”
“SHADOW!” Aura yelled pulling her spear off her back.
“Sherbert make sure none of them interfere,” Wolfsbane said as he walked closer to me.
“No problem sir,” Sherbert said, as she cast a spell holding my friends in place.
I got back to my hooves and spat blood on the platform, “So this is the real side of Elder Wolfsbane huh.” I said mockingly, “I guess the stories about you are true then. You’re nothing but a fucking monster.”
“No Shadow,” he said his helmeted head getting close to mine, “Yes I am a monster,” he kicked me again, one of my ribs snapped and pain ran up my side as I flew into one of the power armored Stallions who were now surrounding us on the platform.
As he walked toward me again I looked up at him and smiled, doing my best to hide the pain, “You’re a coward, that’s what you are.”
“A coward huh, and what makes you say that!” Wolfsbane said, he picked me up and threw me to the other side of the platform.
I gagged and spat more blood on the floor, my vision going red, “Because, if you weren’t, you wouldn’t need your BITCH to keep my friends back.”
He stopped and looked at me like I was a strange bug, “You think I’m scared of fighting any of you?”
“She knows you are!” Aura yelled, “You need your Rangers and spell caster just to take her on, you can’t even fight her outside of your power armor, sounds like a coward to me.”
His head turned slowly to look at Aura, “I’m not letting you all fight me for a reason. It’s not because I’m scared, it’s because I told Gina I wouldn’t hurt you Aura, I need Stardust because he’s the only pony from Stable 97 who was fully trained for the program they were running there. I won’t hurt the child if I can help it because he can be a useful solider when he grows up, my Scribes what to look over the bat’s DNA, and that Zebra is only alive because she’ll make a good bartering chip against the Romans.”
Yaksha’s eyes went wide, “I am nopony’s barter chip, The Romans don’t mean anything to me!”
He laughed, “I’m sure they don’t, but you look like a zebra I know they are looking for. If you are her, then you’re worth a lot of caps to me. As for Shadow, I need her Pip-Buck but I also need the power that’s inside of her, to get that I need to force this power to show itself.”
“You can’t make Aquila show herself, she’s caged inside of me. Only mom can let her out again,” I lied as I got back to my hooves.
Wolfsbane flipped around and slammed his metal covered tail into my face. This time my vision flickered when I hit the ground. Wolfsbane started to laugh, “You know what I don’t understand about you? Why are you so feared around here, your nothing but a weak filly. Not a single pony should be scared of you.”
I pulled myself back to my hooves again and looked up at the power armored ass hole as my horn started to glow, “That’s your problem Wolfsbane, you think that ponies fear me, they don’t. Ponies see me as a protector, a pony that stops bad ponies like you. And I’m not weak, I’m fucking stubborn!”
I fired my concentrated expulsion spell. The horns on his helmet started to glow as my spell slammed into him. Instead of Wolfsbane being blown back, my spell wrapped around his horns then fired back at me. I screamed as my own magic slammed into me throwing me into another one of the Rangers. Both of us went flying, I rolled along the metal platform, the ranger went flying over the edge. This time I didn’t get back up.
Wolfsbane started to laugh, my friends all looked scared. Stardust yelled, “Shadow get up!”
I couldn’t move, I felt like I broke every bone in my body. My eyes were locked on the cliffs not far away as Wolfsbane stepped closer saying, “Where’s this power that’s held deep inside of you? Come on, you do realize that you’re going to die right!? I’m surprised that you aren’t dead already. I’ll admit, you are as stubborn as your mother that’s for sure. It’s just too bad that she’s not here to see this. Though I’m sure she wouldn’t care, since she doesn’t even remember you.”
“Shadow please get up,” Wingnut said.
I wanted so badly to do what he said, but that spell of mine was more powerful than I thought. As I lay there looking at the cliffs I heard the bitch mare laugh too saying, “Don’t worry sir, when we find Grim, I’ll make sure to fix her memories. Then you can tell her all about this.”
Wolfsbane laughed, “Oh that would be just beautiful. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her how I killed her daughter and took the power of Star Gazer for myself.”
“F…fuck…” I tried to say.
“Huh? What was that?” Wolfsbane said moving his face closer to mine, “Sorry I can’t hear you Shadow, former Courier.”
“Wolfsbane stop this please!” Vervain yelled from where she was still hanging.
Wolfsbane ignored her as a large gun popped out of his armor, “I’ll give you one last chance Shadow. If you join me and use that power you have inside of you to help me rebuild Equestria, I’ll let you and your friends live.”
“Just do it Shadow, you can’t win this,” Aura said, tears streaming down her face, “Don’t let him hurt you anymore!”
I couldn’t even move my head or my eyes, as I watched the cliffs doing my best to bring up the ability to say something, I saw what looked like a pony standing at the top of the taller cliff. Who was that, and how the hell did he get up there? It took me a moment but then I figured out who it was, my eyes went wide and a little hope built up inside of me. Enough that I was able to lift my head a little and say, “Never!”
“Fine have it your way then, good bye Shadow Star former courier mare and good riddance!” Wolfsbane said as his large gun pointed right at my head.
The pony on the cliff jumped and a burst of flame shot out of his hooves, he flew toward the Palisade then slammed into Wolfsbane. The Elder flew back rolling along the floor until he came to a stop next to the pole that held Vervain. A second later I felt a restoration potion being pressed to my lips and none other than Box Tape saying, “Drink this Shadow, there’s a good girl.”
Wolfsbane got back to his hooves and he glared over at The Sentinel, “What does it take to kill you!?”
Box Tape was in his power armor still, as Wolfsbane yelled he turned to face the Elder, “Not much, I’m an old buck, but I can’t die until ponies like you are put down Wolfsbane.”
Wolfsbane laughed, “Now father is that anyway to talk to your only son! Can you really kill me so easily?”
Father? Wait a minute, the son that Box Tape said was dead to him was Wolfsbane? I felt my body starting to heal a little, Box Tape knelt down and gave me another potion, “Shadow you need to get up and stop that unicorn, get everypony away from her.”
I coughed then said, “But what about you?”
He looked over at Wolfsbane, “I have a score to settle with him,” Box Tape yelled at the Elder, “You’re no son of mine Wolfsbane, you lost the right to call yourself that when you betrayed your family and Hidden Sands!”
“I betrayed my family? You’re the reason mom DIED!” Wolfsbane yelled, “If you would’ve just told her to stay home, and not to go out on that one last mission, she would still be alive today! It should’ve been you that went on that fucking mission, but you just had to stay home didn’t you, you had to run your fucking COURIER BUISNESS!”
“No pony was going to stop White Oak from doing what she wanted. Your mother was a free spirit, that’s what made her wonderful. And if you remember right, I stayed home for my children. Now stand down before I have to teach you another lesson WOLFSBANE!”
I got back to my hooves and ran toward Sherbert, ignoring the pain that still ran though my body. As I did Wolfsbane yelled, “Kill Shadow and her friends!”
He wasn’t fast enough, Sherbert looked like she had no idea what to do as I charged her. Before she could think of something I flipped around and kicked her horn. She screamed as her spell broke and my friends jumped back into action. The Steel Rangers did as well. Shots started to fill the air around us as a battle ensued. I slammed my hoof into Sherbert again throwing her back then twisted around pulling out Dream Walker as one of the Rangers charged me. My pistol barked and the Ranger’s head whipped back as a bullet ripped through his visor. Aura flew over me, her energy spear glowing as she attacked two Rangers who were trying to go after Wingnut.
Stardust’s rifle was going crazy as he fired his Armor Piercing rounds into any Ranger that tried to go after him or Wind Thrasher. Wind Thrasher opened her muzzle and screamed at three who were trying to get them from behind. Wingnut was using his Ol’ Festus to make the rest jump back or dodge his shot’s. When they did Stardust would take them out. As my friends fought I made my way over to the pole that Vervain was on and using my magic, I untied her and lowered her to the ground.
Once she was down I gave her one of my own healing potions saying, “Drink this quickly, we need to get off this thing before the rest of the Rangers down below figure out what’s going on here.”
“No, you get away, I need to help my father!” she said, “My brother’s crazy, he’s wanted my dad dead for years and dad can’t keep fighting like this, his body can’t take the strain that armor puts on him!”
I looked over at Box Tape and Wolfsbane as they went at it. For an old pony in power armor, Box Tape could move. He traded blow for blow against Wolfsbane like he was nothing more than a child trying to take on a master. But I could see that as he attacked the Elder, Box Tapes movements were already slowing and Wolfsbane’s weren’t. She was right he couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Something else bothered me as well…where was Yaksha?
I looked around and got my answer quickly, the zebra was running after Sherbert who took the distraction of me saving Vervain to make a run for it. Yaksha tackled the mare then slammed her face into the metal floor three times. Then she got back to her hooves, “This one really should learn how to fight.”
“Yaksha are you okay?” I asked.
“Why would I be otherwise? I also believe this belongs to you,” she said lifting the dark crystal that held Oricalcos.
She tossed it to me and I caught it in my magic. As soon as I had it close I heard my uncle say, “It’s about time you found me Star, let me out of this thing please.”
“Um…how?” I asked.
“Break the crystal, it should work. At least I hope so,” he said, his voice sounded weak.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, tossing the gem on the ground and stomping on it, there was a large flash of light, but when I pulled my hoof away the gem was undamaged, “What the hell?”
Yaksha came over looking closely at the Gem, “There is a symbol on the gem, it looks like Ancient Zebra.”
“Can you read it?” I asked.
“I can, but my Ancient Zebra is a little rusty, at least with this dialect. I can take a better look at it when we are out of here,” she replied.
Vervain limped over to me saying, “We can figure this out later Shadow right now we HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE.”
I picked up the gem, “Oricalcos I’ll get you out of there when I can.”
“I understand, for now at least put me somewhere dark, it will help,” he said.
I placed him into my saddle bags then looked over at what was going on. Wolfsbane was still fighting with Box Tape, a couple of steel rangers were still up and fighting my friends, “I know we need to get out of here, but we also need to help Box Tape. If we can take down the rest of the rangers up here, then maybe with all of us, we can take down Wolfsbane.”
“I agree, I will see what I can do,” Yaksha said, pulling up the hood on her cloak and vanishing.
Vervain limped over to one of the dead rangers, opening up his armor. As she pulled the body out she looked at me saying, “Take care of that unicorn before she gets up, I’ll go help my dad.”
“Can do,” I said looking back at Sherbert. She was just starting to come around from the blow she took from Yaksha. Pulling out my Plasma Rifle I pointed it at her saying, “If I were you I’d stay down.”
She looked over at me with hatred in her eyes, “Fuck you, I’m not scared of a weak thing like you!”
“You should be.”
She smiled, “No way, because you seem to have forgotton something, we have back up.”
“Wait…what?” I said then pain racked my body as something slammed into my side throwing me across the platform.
“You should have left when you had the chance,” I heard Gina say.
Fuck, my body can’t keep taking this kind of abuse. Looking up I saw the griffon with seven others all in griffon power armor standing around Sherbert. I got back to my hooves ignoring the pain in my side and the rest of my body, “Still working for the Steel Rangers huh?”
Gina grinned, “I work for whoever pays me runt. Normally I’d say this is nothing personal, but this time it kind of is. Every time I have a job you just keep showing up, you’re like a thorn in my paw that I can’t seem to pry out.”
I coughed then said, “Yeah, I keep hearing things like that. It just means I’m doing a good job. Maybe you should try working for somepony else, you seem to keep picking the wrong side.”
Sherbert pulled out a laser pistol pointing it at me saying, “Time to finish you off Courier.”
Gina lifted her red energy spear and put it in front of Sherbert, “Hold up a moment, Wolfsbane said he wants her alive.”
She looked up at the griffon, “No, he wants the thing inside her alive, the Courier doesn’t matter.”
“Hmmm, good point,” Gina said, “But let me take care of her, I owe her for the Bramble.”
“Come try and kill me,” I said pointing my rifle at Gina, “Let’s see how good you really are!”
She lunged, yelling, “The rest of you take care of her friends, but don’t hurt Aura, if you do the boss will make you pay!”
Fuck she moved fast, I fired my rifle but Gina dodged to one side, spun around and slashed through the air quicker than I thought she could in that armor. I was able to just duck under the slash and roll away for her follow up attack. I jumped back to my hoofs and tried to get in another shot, but Gina did a back flip in the air her spear leaving a red arch of light behind it as it twisted around her, its sharp edge going for my face.
I jumped back just in time, my body screaming in protest. The edge of her spear just nicked my cheek as it passed by burning a hot painful line there. She twisted the spear around again and tried to stab me right in the side, but she was blocked by my sword. I was able to pull it out, just in the nick of time.
She looked down at the sword and stopped her attack, she took a couple steps back asking, “Where the hell did you get that?”
“What this?” I asked lifting the black and silver blade, “Found it.”
She sounded pissed when she spoke, “That sword belongs to my family you little shit! It’s been lost for a hundred and sixty years!”
“Really? Wasn’t that hard to find, it was in an old building near The Kingdom,” I said lifting the sword up and smiling over the blade.
“GIVE IT BACK!” she yelled.
“Nope, finders keepers.”
She screamed and was about to attack me again, but right then, Aura came flying down toward her Aunt. With how angry Gina was, she never saw the attack, until it was too late to dodge. Aura’s energy spear stabbed through a gap in Gina’s armor then pierced right through her back, right below her left-wing joint. Gina screamed again as she was pinned to the platform, her own spear flying out of her grip.
“I won’t let you hurt her Auntie Gina!” Aura said as she held on to her Spear making sure Gina could move.
Gina shook as blood slowly ran down the shaft, “That was…a good attack Aura. I have to admit, I never saw that coming, you are getting better.”
“Shut up, call off your griffons before I end you!”
“I can’t, I told you before Aura, I don’t lead the Unchanged Talons. I’m just the second in command. If you want them called off you have to make our boss do it!” she said.
I walked over to Gina and Aura and pointed my sword at the pined griffon, “If you’re the Second in Command than you can still tell them to back down.”
Gina lifted her right talon and used it to pull off the helmet to her power armor. Once she did, she smiled at me, her eyes locked on mine, “Even if I could order them to stop I wouldn’t. I won’t break my contract or the trust my boss gave me. Unlike my sister, I keep my oaths, so kill me or let me go, either way, my griffons won’t back down!”
I caught a flicker of movement to one side and jumped back as Sherbert fired her laser pistol at me, “Did you forget about me Courier!”
“Fuck, Aura take care of your aunt, I’ve got this one,” I said turning to face the young unicorn.
She was grinning at me as she aimed her laser pistol, “Time to die Courier BITCH!” I don’t know how many times an enemy has said that to me but it never ends well for them.
I smiled back at her as I saw somepony else quietly flying down behind her, “No, it’s time for you to learn a lesson Sherbert.”
She looked at me confused then she froze up at the barrel of a black revolver was pressed to the back of her head and the Stranger said around the bit of his gun, “Drop it or I’ll drop you.”
“Who are you?” she asked,
“Nopony, now drop it before I blow your brains out!” he said angrily.
“I’d do it Sherbert, he’s not one to make a threat more than once. Actually, I think this is the first time I’ve seen him give somepony the opinion to back down.” I said.
For a moment her eyes were locked on mine, then she dropped her laser pistol saying, “Fine, I don’t feel like dying today anyway.”
“Good,” The Stranger said, then he swapped out his gun for a strange looking…something. He fired a dart into Sherbert’s neck, “Let’s just make sure you can’t do anymore harm shall we.”
“The FUCK…” She said, then fell forward as she lost control of her body.
Gina looked over at The Stranger saying, “Oh great it’s you.”
Aura twisted the spear a little making her Aunt scream again, “Shut up Aunt Gina,”
“Wait you know him?” I asked her.
The Stranger looked at Gina and sighed, “We’ve ran into each other in the past.”
“Worked together a couple times too,” Gina said ignoring what Aura said.
Aura cursed, “We can’t keep doing this, it’s time for you to die Auntie Gina!”
Gina looked up at Aura, “Do what you think you have too Aura, but before you do let me ask you this. Why do you want me dead?”
“You betrayed the Red Talons, you killed Gale, you’ve been trying to kill Shadow and the rest of us every time we’ve met,” Aura said.
“No I haven’t, I’ve done what I can to keep you alive Aura. You’re the only one in my family that I still care about, as for Shadow, I’ve never really tried to kill her. Even now I could have taken her out, but I held back. As for me betraying The Red Talons, you still don’t really know what happened back then. Gale got what she deserved. If you want me dead because you hate me then that’s fine, but don’t you dare say I should die for something I didn’t do,” Gina said.
“I know enough!”
“DO YOU!” Gina yelled, “Why don’t you go talk to Gillian and get the truth out of her about what really happened that night, better yet why don’t you ask Apollo, he knows the truth too!”
Aura was shaking with rage, but I saw her grip on her spear loosen just a little. That was all Gina need, she pulled away, Aura’s spear going with her. Gina jumped back then ripped the spear the rest of her way through her body. She screamed again then tossed the spear back at Aura, “You still have a lot to learn Aura.”
The Stranger acted quickly, he pulled his gun out again and fired. Gina just barely dodged the shot. She dove for her own spear grabbed it then took to the air, blood spattering along the ground as she did. I took hold of my Plasma rifle again then fired up at her, but it was too late. She flew away laughing as she pulled out a healing potion and drank it down as she flew north.
“She’s getting away!” Aura yelled picking up her blood-soaked spear, “That bitch always find a way to escape!”
“It doesn’t matter, we need to deal with the rest of the Talons before they do anymore damage,” The Stranger said as he flew off to help Stardust who was fighting two of the griffons.
“He has a point Aura, we can deal with Gina later,” I said as I turned to face the fight that was still going on with Wolfsbane and Box Tape. Vervain had been able to get into the other set of power armor she took off the dead ranger, but she was in the middle of her own fight with two griffons and the last Steel Ranger that was on the platform with us.
“I know, come on let’s help old Box Tape and finish off Wolfsbane.”
I smiled then lifted my Plasma Rifle and the Sword, “I agree.”
I ran toward the fight as Aura took to the air. As I did Box Tape was able to land a hard blow on Wolfsbane, throwing the Elder flying across the platform. After the attack he stopped and staggered a little, “Not now, I need a little more time!” Box Tape said.
“Box Tape get back!” I heard Wingnut yell.
Looking over I saw the colt dodge past one of the griffons, run past Box Tape then throw three Spark Grenades at Wolfsbane. Box Tape saw it and jumped back right as the grenades went off. Wolfsbane saw this too and his armor opened just in time for him to jump out before his power armor was hit by the blast. He rolled away then got back to his hooves, panting hard as he looked toward the Colt, “Little brat!”
I made it over to Wingnut and Box Tape. I aimed my rifle at the Elder, “Times up Wolfsbane, you lose.”
He smiled at me, “Oh really now!”
A griffon’s body slammed down onto the platform next to me followed by Stardust who pointed his rifle at Wolfsbane too, “Yeah, your finished.”
The Stranger landed next to me as well, he looked over at Wolfsbane saying, “Give up Elder Wolfsbane, you have nopony or griffon left to help you.”
Wolfsbane looked at The Stranger saying, “Who are you?”
“I work for Nightshade, you made a threat toward him about Grim and her daughter. I’m here to tell you that The Enclave doesn’t respond well to threats.”
Wolfsbane started to laugh, “Oh so you must be that stallion I keep hearing about, the one who keeps showing up to save Shadow. Funny I remember hearing about you before. Twelve years ago, when you were hunting Grim, she told me that you’re called The Guardian. You’re the one who protects the power source for Falling Shadows!”
The Stranger’s eyes went wide, “How do you know about that?”
He smiled wider, “I know everything Guardian! I know about the secret of your family, I know about the power source you’ve sworn to protect, I even know who you are! Curious how you’re able to keep up this ruse, I figured somepony would have figured out who you are by now.”
I looked at The Stranger, “Wait, that thing you showed me was tied into the program mom’s been looking for, the Project she still wants? What is Falling Shadows?”
“It’s nothing, just an old story that too many ponies think is true, but it’s not. It’s just a lie!”
Box Tape limped over to me then looked at his son, “I’ve heard of this project before, White Oak was looking into it, that was the last mission she went to look into when she died. I’m guessing Wolfsbane found her notes and was using Grim to find it.”
Wolfsbane looked over at Box Tape, “Mom didn’t just go looking into the Project, father, she found information on where it’s located. The problem is, it’s locked down by some kind of special program. I took the notes from where mom died and used them to find out more. The Project is real, it’s also the most powerful weapon in Equestria!”
I looked back at him asking, “If that’s true, then why did you need me or Project Stargazer?”
He looked over at me, “Because Stargazer is the key, even if the program is unlocked, the power from Stargazer is the only thing that can fully activate Falling Shadows. That’s why I needed you.”
Aura spoke up, “Then what is the deal with The Mark II?”
“It holds the notes Grim found on the project, also where it’s located. I also think that Mark II was used to lock down the program a few days before the Bombs fell. That’s why Sweetie Belle wanted them put into Stable 9, she wanted to keep it away from The Children of the Night. She wanted to make sure nopony could ever use it!” Wolfsbane said chuckling again.
The Stranger pulled out his revolver again, “You’re mad Wolfsbane, Falling Shadows isn’t real, it was only an idea of Night Stalkers that they never finished. You may think you know everything about me and what I’m guarding, but you’re wrong!”
“Am I? It’s funny because the Last Guardian told me differently when I ran into him a couple years ago near Manehattan!”
The Stranger’s eyes went wide again, “No, you couldn’t have run into him, he’s…”
“What dead? You really should do a better job on keeping an eye on ponies that were branded from Stratus or Nimbus. The last Guardian is still alive!”
“Either way, I can’t let you live Wolfsbane. I can’t let ponies like you who would use the power for your own gain,” The Stranger said as he started to pull down on the trigger.
“Sorry but I’m not the one dying today!” Wolfsbane said as he threw two different grenades. One was a flash bomb, it went off blinding all of us. The Second was a stun grenade. When that one went off it felt like a giant pony had just kicked me. A blast of air and sound slammed into all of us throwing us back.
Before I could see again and ringing filled my ears, I felt somepony take hold of me and pull me away from my friends. A moment later a foreleg was wrapped around my throat and I could just make out Box Tape saying, “Put her down Wolfsbane!”
My vision started to come back, and I saw my friends were still laying there in a daze, even the stranger. Box Tape however was slowly walked toward us one of his guns trained. Wolfsbane was the pony holding me and I could see that we were right on the edge of the Palisade, “Take one more step dad, and she dies!”
Box Tape stopped, “You’re out of options son, if you kill her I’ll kill you.”
“Maybe, but either way, you’ll still be responsible for another young mares’ death. Now stand down!” Wolfsbane said.
“Let me go!” I said trying to pull away, but The Elder held me tighter.
“Sentinel Box Tape…Dad, get out of that armor and come face me like a real stallion. If you don’t I’ll kill her!”
“Don’t do it Box Tape!” I yelled.
Box Tape looked over at me, then he hung his head, “I can’t do that Shadow.”
“He’ll kill you if you do!” I yelled again.
“Maybe, but I won’t let him hurt you just to save my life, I’m an old pony, you have a long life to live,” he said before looking back at Wolfsbane, “I’ll do it, but only if you give me your word as an Elder that you will let her go.”
“I give you my word!” Wolfsbane said, “Now get out of the Armor!”
My friends were just starting to get back to their hooves as Box Tape said, “Fine, you win son,” his armor opened and the old buck slowly got out of it. I could see small holes around his flanks from what looked like needles. His body looked even worse than it had when I saw him earlier. Vervain was right, that armor was killing him slowly.
Wolfsbane started to laugh, “Finally, the all mighty Sentinel has given up. Now step away from the armor.”
“Not…until you let her go,” Box Tape said weakly.
“No, I have no reason too now. Like I said, I need her.”
Anger showed on Box Tape’s face as he yelled, “You gave me your word!”
“I did, but you should know by now father, that I won’t ever tell you the truth, because you don’t deserve it!”
“Let her GO!” I heard Yaksha say from somewhere to the side. A second later the Zebra appeared as she started to flip around slamming a rear hoof into Wolfsbane’s face. He flew back, his hold on me vanishing. My body flew away from his and I started to fall off the edge of the Palisade.
I started to scream as I saw the edge of the Platform fly under me and far below, the destruction that was done to Cartwheel. Then somepony grabbed me and pulled me back. I heard Box Tape saying, “Don’t worry Shadow I got ya.”
I looked up at the old buck as he smiled down at me. Then he pulled hard and got me back to safety, “Thanks Box Tape.”
He smiled, “No Thanks needed…”
As he spoke I saw Yaksha try to land another blow against Wolfsbane, but the Elder ducked under her attack and he countered. From the look of it, he knew how to fight a zebra. His blow connected under Yaksha’s chin and sent her flying back toward my friends who were starting to run toward us to help. He turned and charged Box Tape and me, “I’ll kill both of you if I have to!”
For a moment I saw something in Box Tapes eyes. He looked at me for a second then smiled. Right as Wolfsbane spun around to kick us both off the Palisade, Box Tape pushed me out of the way. Wolfsbanes kick landed right in the middle of the old pony’s chest. Box Tape flew back, I heard something crack in his chest as he did. As if in slow motion, the old buck flew past the edge of the Platform. A smile still planted on his face, then before he started to fall, Box Tape pulled out an old looking pistol.
As he did he said around the bit, “Sorry son.” And he fired.
Wolfsbane’s head whipped to one side as the bullet from Box Tape ripping through his right eye, but it didn’t go through his head. It just passed through the side of his eye, destroying the eye ball and part of the socket, but not killing him. Blood flew and Wolfsbane went down as he screamed. Box Tape, just laughed as his body fell into the dark night, fell out of sight, fell toward the town he helped create and protect.
I watched as the old buck who took me in, who helped me when I first got to town, who gave me a job and a way to find my mom, vanish from my life. A moment later a distant crash filled the now quiet night sky. As that sound echoed through the air, it was followed up by a loud boom as lightning stuck the wasteland far away, filling the air with thunder. Rain started to fall, and all I could do was look out toward the last place I saw Box Tape vanish.
Something inside me felt empty, I had to be dreaming. As the rain started to fall, and the thunder rolled, I heard Vervain scream, “DAD!”
I turned to see her running toward the edge of the Palisade, as she did I saw Wolfsbane laying there holding a hoof to his destroyed eye, “Hahahahahaha, finally the old man is DEAD!”
Blood was pooling around his head, but he still just laughed. I pulled out my plasma rifle a few feet away. I lifted it with my magic and screamed, “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!”
“I don’t think so!” I heard a mare say, looking over I saw another Unicorn appear. I didn’t know her, but she was dressed in a Scribe’s uniform. Her horn flashed and all of my friends and I were lifted into the air, “I think the battle is over. Good bye Courier!”
Her horn flashed again and all of us were thrown off the Palisade. As I started to fall, my body following Box Tapes, all I could think about was one thing. If I live, I won’t rest until he pays for what he did, he may have won this time, but Wolfsbane was a dead stallion…
[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]
NEW PERK ADDED!
Pickpocket: You sure do have some sticky hooves! During your time in The Wasteland, you’ve gotten good at sneaking around and letting your magic or hooves find their way into other pony’s…ahem… Saddle Bags. You now have a 20% better chance to pickpocket a pony without getting caught.