“Mom, I’m trying to concentrate.”
A long time ago, in the magical land of Equestria, there were six great ponies that were the best of friends. Though they didn’t start out that way, before the return of Nightmare Moon, none of them knew each other very well at all. If it wasn’t for a young unicorn who loved books far too much, the world would’ve been cast into darkness and Celestia would’ve been gone from the land she protected for a millennia.
Thanks to the help of this unicorn, Nightmare Moon was defeated and Princess Luna was returned. This key moment in the young mare’s life created a bond that should’ve lasted a lifetime. A few years after Luna was returned to Equestria, her older sister Celestia decided to give her a school so she too could shape young minds and help foster a new generation of unicorns to our great land. However, one fateful night, a new kind of weapon was used on Luna’s school. Zebras, masquerading as refugees, snuck into the school and set it off, killing the tribes of refugee zebras who were trying to escape their own land and the rule of their new Caesar. This weapon, didn’t just kill the tribes that took shelter at the school, but also all of the fillies and colts that called the school home. The professors died, the ponies who ran the administration died, parents died. Everypony but one…died.
This led to escalating disagreements between the Zebra lands and Equestria eventually leading to a war. Celestia blamed herself for the deaths of so many and stepped down as the ruler of Equestria and put her sister, Luna, in charge. The war started getting worse, and Luna needed help to run the government during this new war, hence The Ministries were created. The six mares who helped save Equestria previously, were now the mares who ran each ministry. The ministries grew the government, helped make new technology, formed new companies, and started secret projects to help win the war. Most of these projects never saw the light of day, even after the war ended and Equestria, died. One such project, was so well hidden that it stayed secret for almost two hundred years. That is until a desperate unicorn known as Grimoire Spell found hidden documents about this project. She only wanted to save her sick filly. She went into the lab where this project’s power was hidden, and awakened a demon. This one action set into motion the actions that will destroy Equus.
***
The evil laugh of Aquila lingers in my head, the way she taunted me as she took over my power, took over my mind, took over my body. I felt the pleasure she felt as she finally did what she said she would so long ago. I was so close, if only I’d moved faster, pulled the trigger before she had time to stop me. I shouldn’t have taken time to have one last night with my friends, with my family, with Aura. Wait a second, if Aquila took over then why do I feel like I’m lying in bed right now?
I slowly opened my eyes. I’m laying in…Silver Snip’s room? The same room she gave me when I was in Cartwheel with her? I was under a few blankets, warm and comfortable. I haven’t felt this way since I left my stable. I moved my forelegs out from under the blanks and stretched. My Mark II was still on my foreleg, that’s a good sign at least, but why am in Silver’s home? Last thing I remember was Aquila taking over, she wouldn’t have just let me take control again. Then I noticed that I couldn’t feel her at all. My head felt normal, well I had a bit of a headache, but not much else. Then I felt somepony shift in the bed with me and a rear leg brush my own.
I twisted around and saw a stallion with a greenish blue coat and straw-colored mane. He was sleeping and his back was turned toward me. Why was I in bed with a strange stallion? It didn’t matter, whoever he is, he’s not Aura and he shouldn’t be sleeping in my bed. I backed out of the bed, falling to the floor yelling, “Who are you? Why are you in my bed!?”
The Stallion jumped then sat up quickly, he looked over at me with deep brown eyes. He rubbed his eyes then said sleepily, “Shadow, what’s wrong?”
He had a nice rich voice and he spoke like a pony who knew me, but I had no idea who this pony was. I backed up more, still sitting on my ass. “Who are you!?”
He looked confused for a moment. “What do you mean? It’s me, Wingnut, your husband…oh shit,” he said then turned his head toward the door of the room and yelled, “Grim, it’s happening again.”
“You’re not Wingnut, don’t lie to me. Wingnut’s a colt, you’re not,” I said.
He sighed. “Shadow, I know everything’s a little confusing at the moment. I am Wingnut, we’ve been married for eight years.”
I looked at him in horror. “Fuck you, this is a dream, it has to be.”
He sighed again, but didn’t move from the spot on the bed as he asked, “Shadow, what’s the last thing you remember?”
“Aquila…she took over my body,” I said.
His face relaxed a little. “Good, I thought you might’ve gone back to when we first met. Shadow, Aquila isn’t…”
The door opened and Mom stood there. “Wingnut, how many times do I have to tell you to wait for me when she wakes up like this?”
I glared over at her and started to pull on my magic. I don’t know what’s going on, but Mom has to be behind this. As soon as I touched my magic to ready a spell, extreme pain flowed from my horn. I screamed and fell back to the floor. “What’s happening!?”
Mom ran over with a look of concern on her face, saying, “Shadow let the magic go.”
I did and the pain stopped. I looked up at her, gasping a little to catch my breath. “What did you do to me!?”
She sighed. “Nothing sweetie, you did it. Ten years ago, you did something with your magic that broke something inside of you. Your horn cracked and ever since you’ve had a hard time doing any kind of magic, even telekinesis is hard for you.”
“I don’t remember doing anything like that,” I said trying to back away from her.
“She said the last thing she remembers is Aquila taking over,” Wingnut…if it is Wingnut said.
Mom looked over at him. “Which time?”
He shrugged so I said, “Near Los Alicorn.”
“So, the time you tried to kill yourself. Well that’s good, at least it wasn’t the one where you thought she took over in Stable 28.”
“Huh?” I asked.
She put a hoof on my shoulder ignoring my attempts to pull away from her. “Shadow, when you hurt your magic you also damaged the memory spell I had on you. The barrier broke, but it also broke your mind. At first nopony noticed until you started talking about somepony called Aquila who was trying to take over your mind. For a while your friends believed you…until you destroyed Mill City Tower.”
“What does that have to do with my magic and my memories, that was a couple weeks ago? I hate what I did, but I can’t change it,” I said.
Wingnut spoke up finally, “Shadow, that night you killed Stardust and your father Nightshade. When Aura died, you lost grip on reality.”
I felt my heart stop as he said that. “No, Stardust was fine, we took him to Stable 97 and Dad wasn’t even there, he flew me out of the building as The Stranger.”
Mom sighed. “Shadow, The Stranger wasn’t your father, it was your uncle, Striker. When you destroyed Mill City Tower, you turned on him, the one pony who tried to help you. You overpowered his gems that protected him from most unicorn magic and killed him too, then you went after Stable 97, and once you used the Mark II to open the stable you killed everypony inside.”
What they were saying couldn’t be real, I didn’t do any of that. “No, you’re lying.”
“I wish she was,” Wingnut said, “It took Wind Thrasher and I three weeks to find you. We followed you all the way back to New Pegasus where you were going after Grim.”
“That’s when you hurt yourself more. You wanted me dead, but you wanted me to remember who I was before you killed me, so you used a memory spell you found in a spell book to overpower the memory spells placed on me. My wards made it almost impossible for you to get into my head, but you managed to fix my memory and broke your own,” Mom said.
“If that’s true then why didn’t I kill you?” I asked.
Wingnut got off the bed saying, “Because Wind Thrasher, Doorstop, and I stopped you. Grim did what she could to help fix what was wrong, but she couldn’t fix everything.”
“Every now and then, your mind seems to slip back into a false past. The one where Aquila is trying to take you over is the most common,” Mom said.
“That…can’t be. It was only a few weeks ago that I was in the Twin Cities,” I said.
“Shadow, that was ten years ago,” Wingnut said.
My eyes went wide and I said quietly, “Ten years?”
“Yeah, ten years. Most of the time you’re okay, but you do have days like this and it’s become common for Grim and I to have to help you calm down, but don’t worry, you’ll remember everything soon enough,” Wingnut said.
Reality started to hit me, I got to my hooves slowly and walked over to the mirror set against the far wall. I looked different, older, I had a couple of lines on my face, scars ran all over my chest, hooves, neck and face. I could see small cracks in my horn from what I assume was the spell Mom told me about. Then I saw my cutie mark, it was burned away and replaced with a dashite mark.
“What…happened to my Cutie Mark?” I asked.
“Two Enclave officers caught up to you a week after you destroyed Mill City Tower. One knew that you were related to Grim and she decided to mark you as they would a pegasus who betrayed The Enclave,” Wingnut said.
“Though you did make it up to her by cutting her head off a day or so later when you escaped them,” Mom said.
“This…is real? I’m not just having a really bad dream?” I asked, “Aura’s…dead? Stardust…is too?”
“Yeah,” Wingnut said with a sigh. “It took a long time for you to come to terms with both of their deaths.”
I looked at Mom. “Why are you here? Why are we in Cartwheel, the town was destroyed.”
“No it wasn’t,” Mom said, “That was another false memory. We moved in…what…eight years ago now Wingnut?”
He nodded. “Yeah, this house was a gift from Box Tape after our wedding.”
“Ah yes,” Mom said, “Well, I moved in with you two to help you when you have problems with your memory.”
As they talked, a flash of Wingnut and me standing with each other in front of a small assortment of ponies came to my mind. I could remember saying some vows to him, then him saying his own, some of which being that he would always take care of me and how he’d always be there for me, even if I couldn’t remember him. Then I saw myself destroy Mill City Tower, killing The Stranger, going into Stable 97, cutting off the head of a young mare called Shortcake. I saw myself using the range finder on three more towns as I attacked any settlement that worked with The Enclave. Another vision of me holding a small knife to Wingnut’s neck as he tried to tell me I was dreaming and everything was okay now.
“I’ve…done some bad things haven’t I?” I asked.
“Yes sweetie, but we’ve been here for you through all of it,” Mom said, “I take it some things are starting to come back.”
“I think so…so Aquila isn’t real?” I responded.
“Not in the way you’re thinking of her no. Aquila was a form a magic that I used to help fix you when you were young. After I did, we went to Stable 28 so I could hide from Elder Wolfsbane who wanted to take you and my old Mark II for his own,” Mom started to say, but I interrupted.
“Then why did you leave?” I asked.
“Wolfsbane found out where I was, so I ran away leaving you behind with Vervain. You were the one that he wanted more than anything so I needed to keep you hidden from him. I needed you to get older so you could prepare yourself for what would happen later. My hope was that with how different you looked and with age, Wolfsbane wouldn’t find out who you were. I left you clues on how to find me when you got out, but then my own memory was messed with.”
“What about Falling Shadows?” I asked.
Mom smiled a little. “That turned out to be a weapon that we never finished. I hoped that it was something that could be used to fix Equestria, but I was wrong.”
“Grim and you found and destroyed the programs that ran the project nine years ago,” Wingnut said.
I took a moment to think back, scattered bits of memory started to come to me. Mom and I taking down the terminals in the Lucky horseshoe, sealing the power source for Falling Shadows, using Solar Flare’s Range Finder to destroy a huge tower in what had to be the badlands. A few more things came to me, but it didn’t help explain everything, though I was starting to believe what Mom was telling me.
I got to my hooves saying, “I’m just having a hard time taking it all in, but I’d be a fool not to trust you. Though I still can’t believe that I married Wingnut.”
He laughed a little. “I was a little shocked you accepted the proposal when I asked.”
“I told him he should’ve waited a couple more years, even if you two did love each other. He was the same age as you were when you left the stable, but once Wingnut has an idea he can’t stop himself,” Mom said with a chuckle.
I heard a door open from down the hall and a young filly’s voice echoed down the hall, “Grandma, I’m hungry.”
Mom’s eyes went wide and she smiled a little as I asked, “Who’s that?”
Wingnut answered, “I was hoping to tell you before Night Blossom woke, but it can’t be helped now.” He looked over at Grim and said, “Grim, would you mind getting her breakfast and making sure Shining Star is up too.”
“It’s no problem Wingnut, join us downstairs once you’ve talked things over with Shadow,” Mom said walking out of the room saying, “Good morning sweetie, how about we go wake your brother and see what grandma made for you this morning.”
“I want Sugar Apple Bombs,” the filly who I’m guessing was Night Blossom said.
Mom chuckled and her words were lost as she headed down the hall. Once they were gone, I looked over at Wingnut. “Grandma? My mother’s their Grandmother?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Night Blossom’s eight she was born not long after we got married. Kind of one of the reasons I asked you, Shining Star is five. They’re our foals.”
I started to shake at the thought of having foals, even worse, foals I couldn’t remember. “But, I can’t remember them. How are they going to react to me?”
Wingnut put a hoof on my shoulder then pulled me into a loving hug. “Shadow, they understand in their own way that you have memory problems. Night Blossom’s a smart young filly and she’s knows how to work around it, Shining Star understands for the most part, but just thinks of you as being sick sometimes.”
I started to panic a little. “I don’t even know how to interact with them though. What do I say, what do I do?”
He hugged me tighter. “Don’t worry you’ll be fine. Just be yourself, give them hugs and kisses, tell them good morning and just tell them you’re not feeling well today, they’ll understand. We have two very smart and wonderful foals.”
I took in a deep breath then calmed a little. “Okay, I’ll try,” I said, then another question came to me. “You’ve told me what happened to Aura, Stardust and my father, but what about Wind Thrasher?”
He pulled away and looked at me sadly. “It’d be best to not talk about her.”
“Wingnut, she’s my friend,” I said.
He closed his eyes and shook his head saying, “She’s no one’s friend anymore Shadow.”
I gave him a stern look. “Wingnut, tell me what happened to her.”
He sighed. “Fine, Wind Thrasher lost her battle to her bloodlust four years ago. She went crazy and killed a lot of ponies, now she lives near Frosty Summit. Violet keeps tabs on her when she can, but we still get stories now and then about a monster who drinks the blood of ponies near there.”
I felt my heart sink as I asked, “So, Doctor Gaze couldn’t find a way to help her?”
“He did, but it took longer for him to find the cure. By the time he did, she’d already lost her mind. Spitfire’s Flight Academy was one of the first places she hit when she turned. She killed everypony there,” he said sadly, “Grim’s tried to find her a few times to put her out of her misery, same for you, but she’s very good at hiding.”
“What about Uncle Ori?” I asked.
“No one’s seen him in ten years. One day he just vanished when The Sins fell apart,” he answered.
I smiled a little. “At least they’re all dead.”
He started to head toward the door and said, “Not all of them are, Envy lives in town here now. Grim’s been able to help him adjust to a new life and he’s not a bad…pony I guess you could call him, but he’s still a dick. Greed who goes by his old name Thundercracker, lives in New Appleton now and runs the town, and Sloth helps The Kingdom, the rest are dead though. Now come on, if we take too long to get breakfast, Grim will be on you again for not eating enough.”
I took in a deep breath, still taking in all that happened. “Okay, let’s go.”
We made our way out of the hallway to the main living area. Somepony had changed the set-up sometime over the years, because it didn’t look anything like it had when Silver lived here. A small dining room was next to the small kitchen, and a living room was now where the shop used to be. Sitting at the dining room table sat Mom with two foals. The first reminded me a lot of Wingnut, only with a horn, a silver and black striped mane, and red eyes. The filly who was small for her age, had a dark purple coat, a bright pink and blue mane, and emerald green eyes. She was a pegasus which caught me off guard, then I remembered that my father was a pegasus so it made sense in a way.
When the filly saw me, she smiled wide and flew over to me, hugging me tight, almost knocking me over. “Mom, you’re up, great. Can I go over to Auntie Vervain’s house later? She wanted to show me how to disassemble a sprite bot today.”
As soon as the filly hugged me, flashes of memories came to me. Giving birth to my daughter with Mom and Wingnut around supporting me. The joy I felt as I named her after my father’s line, to honor his memory. Memories of playing with her in our small living room, telling her stories of her grandfather, and myself when I was younger. As the memories came, I smiled and pulled her closer. “Good morning Blossom, you’ll have to ask Grandma about that. I believe she needed help with the clinic today.”
Mom smiled. “Getting the memories back quickly this time I see.”
I nodded. “They’re coming back to me little by little,” I said, looking over at Shining Star who was trying to levitate his spoon. “How’s my little colt doing this morning?”
“Mom, I’m trying to concentrate,” he said, then dropped the spoon. “Now you made me mess up.”
Wingnut walked over to him and ruffled his mane. “It’s okay Shining, you’ll get it sooner or later.”
“Yeah, just give it time,” I said, getting up after hugging my daughter again.
She yawned and looked up at me. “I thought you could levitate things when you were younger than Shining?”
“I could, but because of my illness when I was young. Grandma and Grandpa told me I had to be careful,” I explained.
Mom laughed a little. “Your mother was also a very powerful unicorn when she was born. It’s a rare thing, but if it helps, I was a lot older than Shining when I got the hang of it.”
He tried to make the spoon float again, his horn glowing red like my own. As he tried Night Blossom looked at me again and asked, “Do I have to help Grandma today?”
I looked over at Mom saying, “That’s up to you Mom. Do you need her today?”
Mom shrugged. “One of my apprentices should be able to help me if I need it, so if she wants to go see Vervain then I think it’s fine.”
“Awesome!” my daughter said, jumping up and down, her wings fluttering, “I can’t wait! Dad, are you going there today too?”
Wingnut, who was sitting at the table now eating his breakfast nodded. “Yeah, Vervain needs help with some new project of hers. You can head over there with me if you want.”
I smiled and headed toward the table when something moved in the corner of the living room. Turning I felt my heart skip a beat as a huge creature stretched then got to its massive paws. It was twice the size of a normal pony, made out of sticks, with leaves for eyebrows and glowing purple eyes. I took a few steps back as it advanced on me. Why wasn’t anypony doing something?
“What is that?” I asked backing away until I bumped into the table.
Mom sighed and said in an amused tone, “Twig’s your pet Sweetie, he’s a timber wolf you saved from a fire a few years back. Goddesses know why you kept the beast, he smells like moss and doesn’t listen to anypony but you.”
I was still shaking, as the timber wolf came closer and nuzzled the top of my head. Then he turned toward Mom and growled a little before curling up next to me and closed his eyes. I looked over at Mom. “I guess he doesn’t like you much.”
“The feeling’s mutual, if he wasn’t as well behaved around you as he is, then I would’ve tossed him out years ago,” Mom said as she served me a meal of what looked like fresh veggies.
Wingnut chuckled, saying, “At least she doesn’t let him sleep in our room anymore. I don’t know how many times I’ve woken up to his creepy stare.”
Shining Star who finished his meal looked at me. “I like him Mom, he’s cool.”
My heart was still racing, but I managed to reach a hoof out and pet Twig’s head. “I guess he’s not that scary. At least it’s not a hellhound or something.”
“If you’d brought a hellhound home, I would’ve had you committed,” Wingnut said.
Twig growled again, but didn’t get up. I just chuckled. “I guess not everything has come back to me yet. I still can’t remember what I was going to do today.”
“You need to go open the shop. I saw a couple of the couriers come back last night, I’m sure there’s work piled up for them,” Mom said.
“Shop? What shop?” I asked.
“Equestrian Express remember? Box Tape left it to you when he passed away, a few years back,” Mom said, getting to her hooves then kissing both the foals before heading toward the door. “I’ll be back later, I need to go check on how things are going with the new wall. Shadow, I’ll stop by later to see how your feeling. If you’re getting tired or having problems with your memory again, close the shop early and head over to Vervain’s.”
Shining Star jumped to his hooves and said in a happy voice, “I’m going with you today Mom.”
I laughed. “Don’t you want to go see Vervain?”
“No, she always wants me to study things. I wanna go with you today, please!” he said with big red eyes.
I chuckled a little. “Fine, but you be good okay?”
“Good luck with that, the little squirts a monster with a horn,” Wingnut said with a laugh.
“So, he’s just like his father?” I said as I got up.
He laughed harder. “Damn right!”
“Damn Right!” Shining Star said jumping up and down.
I rolled my eyes. “Good job Wingnut, I’ll let you explain to my Mom later how our son learned a new fun word.”
“Dad’s gonna get in trouble,” Night Blossom said with a snicker.
I just shook my head, ignoring Wingnut’s look of terror and headed out the door, Twig getting up to follow me with Shining Star saying repeatedly, “Damn right, damn right, hehehehe.”
“Don’t push your luck kiddo” I said laughing. Shining Star quickly stopped
***
Over the next few hours I ran things at Equestrian Express. It felt odd being here without Box Tape around. I must’ve added my own touches to the place over the years. I saw my old duster framed behind the desk, Box Tape’s cape from his power armor next to it. Misery was displayed on one wall and so was Aura’s Spear. The room Box Tape used to use as a sitting room was now set up with packages and orders for the couriers to take. From what I could tell I had over fifty couriers here that traveled all over the area. I thought it’d be easy to do this job, but I was wrong. Cartwheel was one of the main trading outposts for New Pegasus. Ponies came in all day to either send out packages or to pick something up that the Couriers brought in.
As the day started to come to an end, two of my couriers came to check in and I was surprised. One was Solstice, the other Envy, both laughing. Solstice looked the same as ever just a little older, Envy however changed his look a little. His mane was still done up in long dreadlocks, but he had them pulled back into a ponytail, his eyes were blue now instead of purple and he looked happy. My first reaction was to grab the sword off the wall and run it through his face, then I remembered that he was…good now. Doesn’t mean I still don’t wanna do it.
He looked over at me with a smile still on his face and said, “Hey boss, good to see ya.”
“Um…hey Envy,” I said, still not sure what to say to the former Sin.
“Something wrong shrimp, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Envy asked, his face falling some.
“Maybe she’s feeling sick again,” Solstice said.
Twig, who was laying on the floor next to the desk looked up at them both, growling a little before going back to sleep. I just chuckled a little saying, “Yeah, I’m still trying to get used to things again, but I’m remembering as the day goes on.”
Envy rolled his eyes. Throwing a bag of something on my desk ruffling through it. “So you still think I’m a Sin and probably think I’m here to kill you.”
“The thought did cross my mind,” I said.
“I hate when this happens.” He sat then continued, “You helped me realize that I just wanted real friends ten years ago after you almost killed me. You took me prisoner at first then showed me how to live a better life, and blah blah blah…” He said waving his hoof around and took a deep and irritated breath. “Once you helped get Grim back on your side, I saw that life could be better, even for someone like me, so I joined you and became a courier. There, you’re caught up.” He said Sarcastically
Solstice just facehoofed. “Envy you’re hopeless.”
He shrugged, saying, “At least I didn’t scare her like last month.”
“Anyway, we both just got back from The Kingdom,” Solstice said setting a bag of caps down on the desk. “Here’s the cut for the shop.”
I took it and wrote the number down in a ledger. “Any news from The Kingdom?”
Envy answered, “Not much really, Enclave’s been pushing closer, but Emperor Fruit Stripe is sure they can keep them at bay. Looks like they’re trying to get The Steel Rangers to help them out by promising them land near The Kingdom.”
‘Emperor Fruit Strip? What happened to his parents?’ I wondered to myself as I listened to them tell me about what they saw and more news from the East. Once they finished and Envy said his goodbyes, Solstice said, “So are you feeling up for a drink in town when you close? I thought you could fill me in on how things are going around here? I haven’t seen you in a month.”
As she looked at me, a few quick flashes of memory came. Solstice and I sitting in a dark corner of the local bar, our faces close as we talked. Another of us in the small room she rented in Cartwheel. One of me crying into her shoulder as she comforted me the night Box Tape died from pneumonia. I blushed a little, “I…have Shining with me right now, he’s playing in the other room.”
She moved closer whispering, “Then drop him off with Grim, she’ll understand. I’m sure Wingnut will be working late as always.” She kissed my nose. “I haven’t seen you in a month Shadow, I’ve missed you.”
I can’t believe it, was I really cheating on my husband with Solstice of all ponies? How long had this been going on? I looked into her eyes and it was almost like looking into Aura’s. Solstice’s eyes are a darker blue, but they still held the same fierceness I loved about Aura’s. I couldn’t help blushing more as I said, “Solstice…I’m still not remembering things well, but are we…a thing?”
She sighed then nodded. “We have been for a while, even before you married Wingnut. Remember, you only married him because he knocked you up. We had a fight over it, but then I forgave you because you’d been drinking and I was gone for two months. We agreed that it would be fine for you to stay with him, but you would still be mine.”
“I…I don’t remember that, but I guess that’s not saying much is it?” I responded.
She hugged me, saying, “You will soon. So what do you say, think you can ditch the cute colt for a few hours?”
I had no idea what to do, but from the look on her face, I had a feeling this was normal, so I sighed and said, “Sure.”
“Great, I’m looking forward to it,” she said with a giggle.
“Auntie Solstice!” Shining yelled from the other room, then ran in and jumped onto her back.
She laughed harder, then used one of her wings to push the colt off. He laughed too as he fell to the ground. She looked down at him and said, “You’re getting bigger every time I come into town kiddo.”
“Grandma says I’m going to be as big as Grandpa!” he said jumping up and down. “Did you bring me a present?”
“Don’t I always?” Solstice asked, pulling out a small wooden carving of a zebra. “Emperor Fruit Stripe made this.”
“Awww, that’s not a toy,” Shining said as he sulked.
“Shining Star, what do you say when you’re given a gift?” I asked sternly.
He looked down at his hooves saying in a monotone voice, “Thank you Auntie Solstice. I’ll treasure it always.”
You’d think it was Stardust’s kid with a response like that. “What was that last part?” I asked with a tone that spelled doom for the colt.
He looked away from me, but I could tell he rolled his eyes, “Thank you Auntie Solstice.”
She chuckled to herself then rubbed his mane, “You’re welcome.”
“Hey Shining Star, why don’t we close up early and you can show Grandma what you got?” I asked.
“Okay Mom,” he said in a sad voice.
I just shook my head as Solstice laughed harder. “Colt’s will be colts.”
***
“Does that timber wolf have to follow you all the time?” Solstice asked as we made our way over to her place. I dropped Shining Star off with Mom, Night Blossom was already home and working on something in the living room when I got back. I told Mom I was going out with Solstice to get a drink. Mom wasn’t too happy with me going to the bar when I was ill, but I won in the end.
“He doesn’t like to leave my side,” I said as Solstice unlocked the door and showed me in.
She looked over at Twig saying, “Stay out here, she’s not going to get hurt in my little place.”
He growled at her and pushed his way into the living room. Once inside he moved over to her couch, jumped onto it then laid down. I sighed and said, “Guess that’s a no.”
“Fine whatever, just as long as he stays in here,” Solstice said.
She led me toward her room and as soon as we were past the threshold she pressed me against the wall, kissing me deeply. My heart skipped a beat as she pressed her tongue into my muzzle, her wings fluttering like a humming bird. It didn’t take long for Solstice to push me onto her small bed. At first, I felt guilty because deep down I knew that this was wrong, that I had foals with Wingnut and it would break his heart if he found out. That was until Solstice reminded me what I loved about mares…
***
A couple days passed with me doing the same old thing. I’d wake up after being out late with Solstice, finding myself next to a sleeping Wingnut. I’d yawn, head to the bathroom, wash up, then get the foals up. I’d help Mom make breakfast for the family, eat with them and get Night Blossom and Shining Star ready for their day. Then I’d open Equestrian Express, chat with customers, talk with my couriers, talk with Envy who still made me feel strange up close, then go out with Solstice again. Everywhere I went Twig followed. I started to figure out that he’d only listen to me. If any other pony got too close to me or said something that upset me, he’d growl at them. He was always sweet to me though, he’d nuzzle me when he could, lick my face when he was happy, and sleep next to me when he was tired. Everypony in town hated him, but honestly, I liked having him around. In a small way, it reminded me of having my uncle around…even if none of that was real.
On the fourth day since I woke up with my memories gone, I was able to remember almost everything that happened to me since Aura and Stardust died. I was glad because I felt normal again, though I did catch myself looking at my brand now and then. Today, I was having Solstice run Equestrian Express so Vervain could take me to Stable 28. It was one memory I hadn’t gotten back. I’d asked her the day before when she came to have dinner with us about why I hadn’t heard from Milkshake in a while or why I couldn’t remember if she had a filly or a colt. She told me that it was attacked again by Enclave and everypony died during the raid.
I couldn’t believe it, so I asked her to show me. So now, Vervain, Twig, and myself were walking to the stable. As we got closer to Green Mist Valley Vervain said, “I see that Solstice and you have been going out a lot as of late.”
I shrugged and said, “She’s my best friend, she’s gone a lot so it’s nice to see her sometimes.”
She sighed. “You can pull that crap on your mom and the rest, but I know you better than they do. You know that sooner or later, Wingnut is going to find out.”
“I can’t get anything past you, can I?” I asked.
“You never could, and never will. Do you know how much it would break Wingnut’s heart? What about your foals?” she replied as we approached the green mist.
“Auntie Vervain, she makes me happy, so does Wingnut, why can’t I just be happy with both?” I asked.
“That’s not how this world works Shadow. You’re going to have to make up your mind,” she said as she gave me some rad-x then pushed into the mist.
I followed after downing the small pills, “The only choices I have is to break my best friends’ heart and lose a mare I care about, or break up my family. I don’t like either choice.”
“Shadow, you only have one choice. You need to break it off with Solstice before Wingnut finds out. I don’t know how you’ve gotten away with it for so long,” Vervain said as we made our way through the thick mist, my pip-buck clicking slightly.
“Wingnut trusts me, that’s how we’ve been able to get away with it for so long,” I said as the cave entrance to Stable 28 came into view.
“My point exactly, he trusts you and you throw it back in his face. I mean it, if you don’t put a stop to this soon, I will. I’m not going to watch you throw your life away again over a mare,” she said as we walked into the dark tunnel, both turning on our Pip-Lights.
“You wouldn’t!” I said in shock.
“Shadow, I saw what happened with you over a few months when Aura died. You don’t take well to loss, you never have. If you get caught, you’ll lose everything. You’re a mother, and a mother needs to think about her children, not herself,” she said with a sigh.
I stayed quiet for a long moment as we made our way toward the door to Stable 28. Finally, as the opening was coming into sight I said, “I’ll talk to Solstice tonight.”
“Good, now let’s get this over with. This place brings back too many bad memories,” Vervain said.
My eyes went wide as we came up to the door to Stable 28, or lack thereof. Where the giant gear shaped door once blocked the entrance to the stable, now stood just a gaping hole. I drew closer to it and saw the door was jammed into the far wall, dried blood around where it now rested. I took a step back and asked, “What could do that to a stable door?”
“No pony knows, it was like this when we came to investigate after we heard the Enclave attacked it. Everypony was dead including Milkshake and Balefire. Broke my heart when I found them,” Vervain said sniffing. “You believe me now?”
I nodded and looked down as I said, “Let’s go home, I…can’t look at this right now. I wish I would have just listened to you when you told me what happened before.”
“Good idea,” Vervain said turning to leave, “But I understand why you needed to see it for yourself sweetie.”
I took one last look inside the dead stable that used to be my home, then sighed and turned to leave. I stopped when I found myself face to face with Twig, “Come on buddy, let’s go home.”
Twig just pushed passed me, walking into the stable. I turned back yelling, “Twig get back here right now!”
He ignored me and pushed further into the darkness. Sighing again I followed after the stubborn timber wolf. I finally caught up to him in the middle of the atrium. He was sitting in the middle of the empty place, looking up toward the window of the Overmare’s office.
“Twig, what are you doing? We need to go home, there’s nothing here anymore apart from sad memories,” I said.
He turned his massive head toward me, his glowing purple eyes staring deep into mine. Then he shook his head slowly then pointed a paw up at the Overmare’s window. Frowning I looked up trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me. “Is somepony up there?”
He shook his head again and kept pointing. So, I looked again, for a moment all I saw was a grimy window, then I saw what he was pointing at. Etched into the window, almost covered by the grime, was the outline of the Aquila constellation. I took a few steps back, and as I did, a deep voice echoed in the Atrium, “Deceived!”
“Who’s there?” I said turning around in a circle, but all I could see was Twig, watching me with his bright purple eyes.
Then the voice echoed again, “Trapped!”
“Twig, let’s get out of here,” I said, backing toward the door, but he didn’t follow, he just kept on watching me.
“Not…real…must…break…cage!” the deep voice said again.
I bolted for the door, not knowing what was going on in my dead home, but not wanting to find out. As I did, Twig finally followed me, running past me for the door. As we ran the voice said again, “Must…kill…every…pony! Only…way…only…key…have…to…stop…her!”
I screamed as the voice seemed to follow me all the way out of the atrium, out the stable door, and through the tunnel, “Kill…kill…must…get…free!”
“Shadow? Where are you!?” I heard Vervain say from the mouth of the tunnel.
I ran faster, wanting to get as far from the horrible voice, until it said one word that stopped me in my tracks, “Star…listen…to…ME!”
“What did you call me?” I asked the darkness around me.
“Shadow, where are you!?” Vervain yelled again from up the tunnel, but I ignored her.
The Voice came again this time, even closer, “Star.”
My eyes went wide as I heard the voice of the only pony on Equus who still called me that. “Uncle Ori? Is that you?” I asked.
“Yes,” the voice replied.
“Where are you? Where have you been?” I asked the darkness.
“Need…to…kill…them,” he said.
“Kill who?” I asked still looking around the tunnel, but I couldn’t tell where he was.
“Every…pony, not……………real……dream…….nightmare…..cage….trapped!” he said.
“Uncle Ori, show yourself and talk to me, you’re not making any sense,” I said.
“Stop…Aquila!” he yelled.
“She’s not real,” I said as I realized that something was wrong, he couldn’t be my uncle. My mind was just trying to pull me into that fake life again, “Neither are you.”
“Real…world…not…world…fake…you…kill…before…late!” he said again, his words coming out in segments.
I shook my head. “I’m not falling for it.”
“Star…trust…me!” he said again and as he did I realized that Twig was watching me. As the voice spoke my timber wolf came closer and nuzzled the top of my head and the voice said again, “Trust…love…all…heart…never…to…you. Never…lie…you.”
I looked up at Twig. “It can’t be…”
A shot echoed down the tunnel and Twig was blasted into the wall as Vervain came running down the tunnel. “Get away from her beast!”
“Vervain! What are you doing!?” I yelled as Twig got back to his paws, growling at her. A strange black fluid dripping from his body.
“Shadow get away from him!” Vervain yelled, pointing her battle saddle at Twig, but he pounced at her, knocking her over as he ran by.
“Vervain, why are you attacking Twig!?” I yelled as she tried to turn and fire on him again.
“There’s something evil about him, I heard that voice, we have to kill him!” Vervain yelled as she pulled away from me and fired up the tunnel at Twig who was watching us, still growling.
“There’s nothing bad about him, he’s just an animal!” I yelled trying to stop Vervain.
“Shadow, you have no idea what you’re saying,” she said, turning back toward me and slapping me hard in the face. “I knew we shouldn’t have let you keep him, he’s a monster!”
Pain started to build in my horn as she slapped me and anger rushed though me. “Vervain!” I used the small amount of power inside me and pulled one of the rifles off of her Battle Saddle and pointed it at her. “Don’t shoot him!”
She looked at me in horror. “Shadow, how dare you point a rifle at me, put that down before you hurt somepony!”
“No, Twig isn’t a monster, he might even be uncle Ori. I need to know, so just leave him alone, he hasn’t hurt anypony,” I said angrily.
The look she gave me was unlike any other I’ve seen on her face. She was enraged, Vervain was one of the most reasonable ponies I knew. If I was this upset about something like this, she’d listen to me, not treat me like this. She also wouldn’t ever hit me like that. She’d slap my horn when I was being a brat, but she’d never slap my face like she did.
“You’re not thinking straight,” she said then turned to fire at Twig who still hadn’t moved from his perch, small black something dripping from his side.
“Vervain DON’T!” I yelled, but she ignored me and started to pull down on the bit of her battle saddle. I was faster, the bullet from the rifle I stole slammed into her side, throwing her back into the wall.
She fell to the floor of the cave in shock, looking up at me as if she couldn’t understand what just happened. She looked down at the blood soaking through her thin barding, then back at me again. “Shadow…you shot me.”
I went to run to her side, unable to believe I just did what I did. “Vervain, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Twig came down the tunnel again and slowly pushed me away from Vervain, the voice echoing again, “To…close…must…die.”
“NO!” I yelled trying to push past the huge timber wolf. “Auntie Vervain! I can get you help.”
Vervain didn’t respond to me. When I was finally able to see her properly as my Pip-Light found her face in the darkness again, I saw that she was gone. Blood was dripping from her muzzle and her eyes looked vacantly up at me. Shock and disbelief still plastered on her face. I dropped the rifle and slowly walked toward her, Twig finally letting me pass.
“V…Vervain?” I said slowly shaking her with a hoof. “Please…no…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
I felt a paw on my shoulder and I flinched then looked back at Twig who was looking down at me with his glowing violet eyes. Then the voice came again, “I don’t have long Star, there’s still too much magic keeping me from fully reaching you.”
“Uncle Ori? You’re Twig?” I asked pulling away from the timber wolf.
He nodded. “In a way, I’m using this body so Aquila won’t notice me. Listen, this world isn’t real, the memories you’re getting aren’t real.”
“Yes it is, you can’t trick me into believing the other memories I had are true. I know that I killed Stardust, Aura is dead, I have a life now, a good one!” I said trying to get further away from him, but the tunnel wall was blocking me.
“Dammit Star, don’t be like you’re mother. I’m telling you the truth, remember what happened right before Aquila took over!” he said with a growl.
It was hard for me to remember anything from that other life, most of those memories were foggy. Though as I thought back on it, I remembered Oricalcos doing something right before my body was taken from me. I looked back at him. “You merged with my horn.”
“Yes, I planted all of myself into your power as it was pulled into you by Aquila. She’s keeping you locked up while she uses your body to like a puppet bent on destruction. You need to unlock this cage before she makes you forget who you are and takes over fully. You don’t have long,” he said, then he shook his head and growled.
“Unlock the cage…how?” I asked.
“I…can’t hold on much…longer,” he said. “You…have to…do something that…Aquila thinks you could…never…do. Something, so outside…of your…normal behavior…like…killing…loved…ones.”
“I don’t understand? Why would I have to do that? Uncle Ori, tell me,” I begged.
“Trust…yourself…Star, remember…who…are,” he said with his voice fading, “Remember…love…”
The eyes on Twig went blank for a moment then they turned green instead of violet. The timber wolf whined, then nudged me. He looked concerned then he sniffed the air and looked at the dead mare who raised me and whined more, nudging her hindleg.
Slowly I got back to my hooves and walked back to Vervain’s body. I felt tears in my eyes as I looked down at her lifeless form. “How do I know if this is real or if I’m going crazy?”
She couldn’t answer me, the mare who raised me and taught me how to be the mare I am today, was dead. She wouldn’t be able to come over for dinner with the family, she would never again tell me when I was being stupid, she wouldn’t be able to teach Night Blossom how to build robots…I killed her. I snuffed her beautiful light from the world, because all she was trying to do is keep me safe. Or was Oricalcos really there, trying to help me see through this world that felt so strange to me at times?
Words from Serendipity in one of Mom’s memory orbs came back to me, “Remember that timber wolves can be the wisest of creatures sometimes.”
Why would she leave me a message like that unless she knew what would happen? I looked over at the now normal timber wolf who was looking at me now, the wounds Vervain gave him were still dripping with something green instead of black. Yet, somehow my uncle used this creature to tell me what I needed to know. If I was really trapped inside my own mind, then I was caged like Aquila had been for so many years. Only in this cage, she was keeping me in a world where she never existed, one where Mom came back to me, where I got what I always wanted. A family to call my own, my mom back with me, her memories back, foals of my own, a normal life.
I took a moment to think back on what I knew here and what I knew from the other life. Both matched up until my trip to The Kingdom when Aura died. In both worlds I did go to Mill City Tower, but in this world, Striker saved me. He was The Stranger and helped protect me. In the other it was my father who was playing two sides, one the council pony, and the other my protector. Later in this world I went around killing a lot of ponies in my anger only to be stopped by Wind Thrasher, Solstice, Vervain, Wingnut and Mom. In the other I found out that Aura survived, so did Stardust. I fell in love with Aura and she was my soulmate. In this world I was with Wingnut, but also with Solstice a mare in the other world that I respected now, but couldn’t ever see myself falling for. I also don’t think she swung my way in the other world. Though I couldn’t really say which way she went, I didn’t know her well enough.
Which world made sense, which matched up with who I was before the discrepancy in my memories? The sad truth was, it didn’t take long to figure it out. This world had too many holes in it. Envy wouldn’t ever work for me and befriend me. He hated me more than anything on Equus and I can’t see how Mom would’ve gotten her memories back. As much as I loved Wingnut, he was more like a little brother to me more than a husband. Solstice was…fun in this world but her personality didn’t match up. Also, where was Doorstop, where was Wind Thrasher? Why did Vervain hit me like she did? No, something was off, and if Oricalcos was right, I’d have to do something bad enough that Aquila thinks I’d never even think about trying it.
I looked back at Twig. “What wouldn’t I do in the other world?”
The timber wolf just stared at me so I sighed and looked at Vervain again, “I’d never hurt the ponies I love, at least not like that.”
I knew what I had to do and I’m not sure I can go through with it. Sad thing is, if I want to stop her, I’m going to have to become a monster, just like Aquila. I looked down at Vervain’s body again and ran a hoof over her mane, then closed her lifeless eyes. “I’m sorry Auntie Vervain, I just hope that I’m not going crazy.”
I moved back toward Twig, patting his head for a moment, then sighing I headed out of the cave. Twig followed me out of the darkness and back toward the world I needed to destroy. As I stepped out of the cave I took in a deep breath, letting everything good inside me fade away. “You think you can lock me up inside my own mind Aquila, fine, bring it on!”
***
“Shadow, where have you been?” Mom asked as I walked back into the house, dinner already prepared.
“Vervain was showing me Stable 28, I thought it would help with the memories,” I said as I walked over to sit at the table with my foals and Wingnut.
“I figured everything would be better by now,” Mom said joining us, “It’s never taken this long before.”
Wingnut swallowed what he was eating then laughed, saying, “She’s fine Grim, back off.”
“Yeah, I’m fine Mom,” I said with a sigh. “Most of its come back now,”
She looked at me for a long moment then said slowly, “Okay…but if you start having problems again, let me know.”
“I will,” I said as I started to eat.
Shining Star jumped onto his chair saying loudly, “Mom, can you tell me a story tonight!”
Mom answered him, “Shining I thought you liked my stories?”
He jumped up and down, “I do Grandma, but I wanna hear about when Mom was fighting the SINS!” he added a dramatic voice to the last word.
I sat back in my chair. “Hmmmm, well I don’t know, some of those stories aren’t for little colts.”
“But I wanna hear it, pleeeeaaasssssseeeee!” he begged.
“Mom just tell him about when you fought them at Frosty Summit, that one’s not too bad. At least nopony died there,” Night Blossom said.
“Well, not any of my friends, but I can’t say the same for some of the ponies who lived there,” I said.
“Oh, just tell him the story, it’s about his bedtime anyway,” Wingnut said, “I’ll put Night Blossom to bed and see you later tonight okay.”
I smiled and said, “Okay,”
“Can’t Grandma put me to bed Dad? I wanna show her some of what Vervain showed me yesterday,” Night Blossom said.
Wingnut yawned and gave in. “Fine, I guess I’ll just head to bed now.”
I got up and smiled. “Okay, time for bed. You little renegade”
“Awesome,” Shining Star said as he ran toward his bedroom.
“Night Blossom, I’ll be there in a minute. I want to have a word with your mother,” Mom said.
“Okay Grandma, I want to finish reading something anyway,” My little foal said getting up, then trotted toward her room.
“See you soon Shadow,” Wingnut said, kissing me quickly then heading toward our room.
“So, what’s up Mom?” I asked.
“Why didn’t Vervain come to dinner? She told me this morning that she’d be stopping by tonight,” Mom asked.
“Oh, she wasn’t feeling well. She said she was going to bed early,” I replied.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you got back? If she’s not well I need to go check up on her,” Mom asked again.
“Mom she’s fine, she’s just been working too much lately. She just needs rest,” I replied, suddenly feeling like a character from a graphic novel I once read about a serial murderer that was working with the detective who was investigating him.
She looked at me for a long moment then sighed, saying, “Okay, I guess I’m just worrying over nothing. Go get Shining to bed, I’m sure he’s jumping all over his room waiting for you.”
“Okay Mom, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I headed toward my colt’s room.
A little while later I was finishing up my story about the fight at Frosty Summit as Shining laid there in his bed his eyes half open. “And with the help of your Dad and my friends, The Sins ran away with their tails tucked between their legs.”
“And you won?” he asked sleepily.
I smiled, I’d told him most of what happened during that fight, but changed the story up a little. He didn’t need to know all the details. “I sure did. Now time for you to get some sleep shrimp.”
I kissed his horn as he yawned again, asking, “Can you sing me a song?”
“Sure…I’d love…to,” I said as my hooves started to shake. How could I do what I was thinking. He was such a sweet colt, so happy, like I used to be when I was little. No, this world isn’t real, I need to do this. As wonderful of a colt as he was, he was just an illusion…
He snuggled up with a blanket his eyes closing as I started to sing the song Phantom Shot’s daughter sang in the recording he kept with him…
“Hush now, quiet now. It’s time to lay your sleepy head,” I started rubbing a hoof over his mane, pulling one of his extra pillows closer. “Hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.”
He started to snore as I moved the pillow up with my hooves and placed it over his little face. “Drifting off to sleep, the exciting day’s behind you. Drifting off to sleep, let your joy of dreamland find you.” With my hooves on each side of the pillow I pressed it down hard over my colt’s face doing my best to hold back my tears. His little hooves jerked and he started to struggle under me, but I held the pillow tighter, little sounds of panic barely making it past the pillow. After a minute his struggles slowed. “Hush now, quiet now, lay your sleepy head. I said, hush now quiet now.”
His hooves finally stopped moving and fell to the bed with one last twitch. Tears were falling now as I waited for a moment then finally lifted the pillow from my son’s face. His eyes were locked in terror, looking up at the ceiling with no light in his beautiful eyes. Slowly I used a hoof to close them, finishing my song, “It’s time to go…to…bed.” I started to cry into the pillow overwhelmed with sadness. I killed my own son, my own flesh, blood and magic. The pony who gave him life only to take it away. It took me a minute to recover falling back to the thought of how this world wasn’t real, but it felt real. I just killed my colt and he wouldn’t be the first one to die tonight. I felt horrible for the murder, I could even remember his first step, his first word, the first time he used a spell.
I got back to my hooves placing the pillow back where I found it. I moved Shining’s legs back into a position where he looked like he was just a sleeping little colt, covered his body with his blanket then slowly walked back out of the room. The house was quiet now as I slowly walked back down the hall toward my living room. Nopony was there apart from Twig, he was sleeping on the couch again, his limbs twitched as he dreamed of something.
I moved toward my front door as I tried to banish the fake memories away. I unlocked the door then stepped outside, rain was slowly falling as I walked onto the empty streets of Cartwheel. It was like the sky itself was trying to tell me that I should be crying still. I should be ashamed of what I just did to a five-year-old foal. I ignored it and let the rain fall on me as I walked to Equestrian Express. As I did, more memories of my son came to me, like the time when he drew me a picture, or when he came into my room at night because he had a bad dream.
“It’s not real, none of this is real,” I told myself as I pulled out the key for my…no Box Tape’s shop, and unlocked the door. Slowly I walked in and went toward the wall where Misery was still framed. When I realized that none of this was real I knew what I’d have to do, I’d need a weapon if I wanted to take on Mom and the others, but I couldn’t use the rifles from Vervain. It was too much of a risk if I was caught coming into town with one. So, I needed my sword. Mom didn’t trust me with weapons, but she always let me keep Misery as long as it stayed on the wall.
The only problem was that my magic was shit because of my cracked horn. When I learned how to use this weapon, I used my magic. I couldn’t do a lot by holding Misery with my muzzle. This sword was meant for griffons, not ponies. I needed to be able to wield it like I had talons. The only way I could make this work was I had to believe that my horn was fine, my magic was powerful still. Even if I was in a cage, it was still my own head. So, closing my eyes, I pulled on my magic. For a moment I thought it was going to work, then pain ran down my horn again. I wanted to scream but I kept trying, until something gave and the pain vanished. My eyes snapped open as I felt my magic take hold of Misery.
My magic was nowhere near as strong as I was used to, but a lot better than it had been over the past few days. I wasn’t going to be able to rely on my teleportation or explosion spells then, but I should be able to use Misery. It would have to do. I pulled it off the wall then turned toward my old set of armor and pulled it down. I put on my barding and duster, taking in the scent of dirt and sweat that still lingered on the outfit. I had a long painful night ahead of me, it was time for the Courier of The Wastes to make her grand return and deliver nothing but death.
One of the steps to the upstairs creaked. I twisted around quickly to see Envy looking down at me sleepily. “Shadow? What are you doing here so late?”
“Oh, Envy, it’s just you,” I said with a sigh. “What are you doing up there?”
“Sleeping, you idiot, what do you think? I use the apartment when I’m in town,” he said coming the rest of the way down the steps, then his eyes fell on Misery and my outfit. “What are you doing?”
I couldn’t help as a small crazed smile came through, I said, “What does it look like Envy?”
“It looks like you’re ready to kill something. You know Grim said you shouldn’t use that stuff again,” he said sounding concerned. Envy sounding concerned, yeah this isn’t right, what does Aquila take me for, an idiot?
I started to laugh as lightning flashed outside, “Damn Envy, what did she do to you to make you so pathetic?”
“Pathetic? What the hell are you talking about shrimp? I’m still Envy, but I found a better way to live,” he said, sounding offended.
I laughed harder, “Envy the Jealous, first member of The Seven Sins of Equinity is really happy living as a courier working for ME!?”
His eyes flared a little, “I’m doing this because I have no other choice. Why does it shock you that I want to be a better pony!?”
“Because you’re NOT A PONY!” I yelled, “You’re a changeling that wants to be a pony.”
“Take that BACK you bitch!” he yelled.
“Make me,” I taunted, sticking my tongue out like an immature pre-teen.
He growled and turned into a griffon, then back into a pegasus and took another step back. “Shadow, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m sick of this life Envy, sick of living my life like I’m a fucking nobody. I want my old life back, I want to kill.” I took a step toward him, saying, “Come on Envy, I know you miss the old life, back when you were feared. I know you want to be a Sin again.”
I could see it in his eyes, my words were getting to him. Slowly a smile came to his face as he said, “I do miss ponies fearing my name, fearing The Sins. But with Pride I mean Oricalcos gone, there are no Sins, not without him.”
My laugh came out like I snapped. “Envy, I’m his niece, I’m just as dark as he was, I am PRIDE! It’ll be soooo easy to tear apart this pathetic town with you and me. So, what do you say, want to make everypony fear The Sins again?”
“Shorty, where was this fire ten years ago? I would’ve liked you a lot more back then if you were this crazy before,” he said with the laugh I knew all too well.
“So, ready to make some mayhem?” I asked.
He hit one hoof against another smirking that Envy smirk I also knew so well “Oh, you know it,” he said, then his face fell. “What about Grim and your family?”
“Grim’s gone soft, and what family?” I said as I turned to head out the door.
“Okay, as much as I love to kill and destroy, I can’t hurt Grim, it goes against my nature. I’ll hurt her but I can’t kill her,” he said.
I had a feeling he’d say that, but I needed him to help me. In my world, there was no way I’d ever help Envy, not like this. He was crazy, loved to kill, loved to be the best. I needed to be the crazy deadly pony my uncle was, and in my world that wasn’t something I could do. If I killed him, that was something I’d do in my world. If I couldn’t get him to help me with Mom, then I’d have him help me with another task. “Fine, I can deal with her myself. Go find Wind Thrasher for me, I have fun plans for her and this town.”
He smirk returned, saying, “I don’t like the idea of you killing Grim, but I’m not going to stop you. I like the idea of letting this town bleed from that monster though. This place is a shithole anyway, I’ll see you in a little while Shorty.”
He headed out the door with me, opening his wings. Before he could fly off though, I said, “Envy, call me Pride.”
He laughed again. “Not yet Shorty, if you can prove to be just as deadly as the real Pride, then we’ll see.” With that he was gone.
The storm was raging now and I took in the smell of it falling on the dirt and rocks around me. As I stood there in the rain I heard the door to my house open and Wingnut’s voice echoing toward me, “Shadow, what are you doing out in this rain?”
I looked down the road at him. Moving closer I said, “I couldn’t sleep, I felt like something was going to happen. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head so I wanted to get my barding.” As I spoke I hid Misery under my duster.
“You could’ve woke me,” he said as I walked into the house. “Why don’t you get out of that and come to bed.”
I put on a seductive face and moved closer to him, saying, “But I thought you used to love how I looked in my duster?”
He blushed and grinned like a colt. “I mean I did, but that was a long time ago.”
I nibbled his ear then whispered, “Haven’t you ever wanted to dominate The Courier?”
A shiver ran over his spine as he said, “I mean…the thought did cross my mind when I was young.”
I slowly walked past him and let my tail run under his chin. “Maybe you can do that now?”
Stallions were way too easy to manipulate. It took everything in me not to think about what I was doing as I led my husband to our bedroom, past the closed door to my dead sons’ room. Once we were in, he pushed me onto the bed then laid on top of me, kissing me deeply. I let out a fake moan as I kissed him back, using my magic to move Misery out from under my duster and under the pillow. Then I let him pull my barding off me.
“Does the big bad courier mare really think she can get away from me,” he said trying to do some kind of weird roleplay.
I did my best to answer, “You can’t…get away with this.”
“Oh, but I will,” he said playfully twisting me around and lifting my tail as he moved over me.
“Wingnut pin me down or something, on my back its more realistic,” I said.
“OH…sorry,” he said, letting me roll on my back, then he was over me again, pinning my hooves down as he spread my rear legs with his own.
I moved my head up to kiss him before he could enter me, then moved my head next to his as if I was going to whisper something seductive. My next words weren’t those of a horny wife or lover, “I love you Wingnut…and I’m sorry for having to do this.”
I felt him brush the inside of my legs as he said, “I love you…wait sorry for what?”
My magic took hold of Misery again and I moved it out from under the pillow under me. Before he could even comprehend what I said, I slipped the blade between his ribs. Wingnut’s eyes went wide and his muzzle opened as he tried to scream in pain. He wasn’t able to though, Misery just slipped through one of his lungs and was now pressed against his heart. He gagged then fell to his other side looking over at me in confusion.
Tears started to fall again as I kissed his lips one last time, ignoring the blood dripping from them. “I am sorry, but this has to be done.”
He was trying to breathe, but it was hard, but he did manage to say quietly, “Don’t…understand…I…”
I didn’t let him finish what he was going to say. I let Misery slide further into him, piercing his heart then his other lung until the point poked out his other side. For a moment his eyes went wide, then the light left them. I pulled Misery out, the blood dripping off it quickly as if the sword couldn’t stand the blood of such a good stallion on it either. I closed his eyes as his blood soaked our bed, the bed where my son was conceived, where I made love to him on many nights when I felt guilty for what I was doing with Solstice.
“It’s not real…” I said as I backed away from the body of the stallion I saved as a colt. I put my barding back on and slid Misery into the holster at my side, took in a deep breath then headed out the door.
I’d have to go deal with Mom next, she was the biggest danger to me right now. I had no way to fight her magic, so I’d have to catch her in her sleep. So, I moved down the hall to the room she shared with my daughter. Slowly I turned the nob and opened the door. I was about to pull Misery out of its sheath when I saw that nopony was in the room. “Night Blossom? Mom?”
Nopony answered, where was my daughter and mother? I took a moment to check the room before turning and heading back down the hall. I had to find them, before Mom realized what I’d been doing. This wasn’t the first time Mom wasn’t home during this time of night, same for Night Blossom. Both of them were night owls. When they couldn’t sleep, they went to Vervain’s shop at the edge of town to work on small projects late into the night. Those two were very close, sometimes I thought that Mom saw a lot of me in my daughter and wanted to be able to have the kind of relationship we should’ve had when I was young. On most nights that wouldn’t be a problem, but if mom went up to the small apartment over Vervain’s shop and saw she wasn’t there, I could be in a lot of shit.
“Twig get up,” I said as I got back into the living room, “Go find Mom or Night Blossom, I need them back home.”
The timber wolf yawned, then got to his paws, he growled a little as his injury flared up. Timber wolves heal at a miraculous rate. He moved toward the door that I just opened for him then ran into the storm. Mom knew that if I sent Twig out so late, it meant I needed her for something, or I was just pissed that Night Blossom and her were out so late. She’d see my timber wolf, roll her eyes, and come on home after making me wait a half an hour just to prove she didn’t have to do what I wanted all the time.
I had something else to deal with while I waited for her. I went over to Solstice’s home. I was about to knock on the door when it opened and she was standing there with a grin. “A little late for a night cap don’t you think Shadow?”
“Is it ever too late?” I asked kissing her and pushing her back into the house.
“Oh, somepony missed me today,” Solstice said, kissing me back.
I was going to try the same thing with her that I did with Wingnut, but somepony outside decided that I had to change my plans. A mare screamed out on the streets then her voice was cut off. I pulled away from Solstice saying, “What was that?”
“I was going to ask you the same…” Solstice started to say when the door to her home burst open and a bloody Envy fell into the room.
“ENVY!” Solstice said going over to him. “What happened to you?”
He ignored her and looked up at me, saying, “She…she’s!”
My eyes went wide. “How did this happen to you, was it Wind Thrasher?”
“She’s fucking crazy Shadow! She’s gotten stronger!” he said then a shadow flew by the door and Envy was ripped away by something.
Solstice backed up. “What the fuck was that?”
“It had to be Wind Thrasher,” I said pulling Misery out of my barding.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” she asked looking back at me then her eyes fell on Misery. “Shadow why do you have that?”
I sighed. “Sorry Solstice, but I thought I had longer to do this,” I stabbed her in the eye before she could do or say anything.
Her body went rigid, then she fell off the end of my sword, “Dammit, I didn’t want this. I wanted to at least have a little fun before I had to finish you off.” Then I shivered as I realized that I sounded like Lust…ewwwww.
More screams came from the town. I ran into the storm and saw a few dead ponies sucked dry of blood laying in the street. How the hell did Envy find her so fast? I thought she was up near Frosty Summit, it should’ve taken him an hour to get her to follow him back here. Shit, I wasn’t ready for her to be here yet, Mom was still alive.
There was a flash of blue light and Mom was there with Night Blossom. “Shadow, what’s going on? I heard screams.”
“Wind Thrasher is here,” I said looking up at the skies, hoping I could make her out in the storm.
“Mommy, I wanna go home,” Night Blossom said in fear.
“Shit,” Mom said, looking around too. “Shadow get Night Blossom home, I’ll deal with her.”
“Okay, just be careful,” I said as I moved toward our home, then I saw a shadow flying down toward my house. “Night Blossom get home quick and get your father.”
“But Mom I’m scared,” she said.
“You’ll be fine, I’ll be right behind you. I just need to keep an eye out for danger, now run,” I said.
“Okay Mommy,” she said, taking to the air and flying for our house.
My heart started to pound as I didn’t move and I watched my little filly head right toward what would be her death. She just got to the door when the shadow moved off the roof and slammed into the filly, pinning her to the mud. I was frozen when my eyes fell on my old friend. She didn’t look anything like I remembered her. Red Scales covered most of her underbelly, legs, and part of her back, they were even working their way up her neck. Her fangs had grown longer and sharper. Her mane was long and wild, her eyes glowing bright red and her tail was more like a dragon’s rather than a pony’s.
My daughter screamed in pain and fear as Wind Thrasher hissed down at her, her fangs an inch away from her eyes, “Mommy HELP!”
“Night Blossom!” Mom screamed from behind me. “Shadow do something!”
I didn’t move, I just looked over at Wind Thrasher who still hadn’t killed the small filly under her hooves. When my daughter screamed Wind Thrasher’s head moved farther away then she looked over at me. All I could see in those eyes was hunger that could never be satisfied. The bat pony grinned showing her razor-sharp teeth, when she spoke it was the voice of a demon, “Shadow Star…it’s been too long!”
Mom ran up next to me but stopped when Wind Thrasher pressed a claw onto my crying daughter’s chest. I just watched saying, “You’re looking well Wind Thrasher, did you change your mane?”
“Shadow, we have to do something,” Mom said, her horn glowing.
“Don’t try,” Wind Thrasher said, “Or I’ll slit her throat.”
Mom stopped her spell then said, “Wind Thrasher, don’t hurt her please.”
“Why? Who is this filly to me apart from a delicious treat?” Wind Thrasher asked with a sick sounding laugh.
“She’s my Daughter Wind Thrasher,” I said, not taking my eyes off hers. “I don’t know what happened between us, but she’s just a filly, let her go.”
“Don’t remember?” Wind Thrasher said with another sick laugh. “You killed ponies I loved, ponies I cared about. Don’t you remember what you did to Trotston four years ago?”
“Wind Thrasher that wasn’t Shadow, she lost the range finder a long time ago, I told you that after it happened,” Mom said, her voice sounding scared.
Wind Thrasher just smiled wider, “Liar, I know who did it. You can’t protect her all the time Grim. I saw her go crazy again, watched as she stole the range finder from you and used it to destroy my old stable’s inhabitants.”
Strange, I don’t remember doing that, maybe it’s one of those memories I hadn’t gotten back yet. Oh well, if Wind Thrasher said it happened then I guess it did. Still didn’t matter, I needed her here, just not yet. So, I just shrugged and said, “Not much of a loss if you ask me.”
I thought that would anger the crazed bat pony, but it didn’t. She just looked down at my crying daughter and asked, “Do you love this foal Shadow, what about you Grim?”
“With all my heart,” I said
“Of course I do,” Mom replied, “Now please leave her alone!”
“Good,” Wind Thrasher used her sharp claw to stab my filly in the belly. She screamed as blood poured out of her. Mom did as well, her horn starting to glow again, but Wind Thrasher was faster. She lifted Night Blossom up with her returned hooked claw then used her other to cut a deep line across my little filly’s throat. Her eyes went wide as she gagged on her own blood.
“NO!” Mom screamed.
Wind Thrasher licked the blood then dropped the filly to the mud. Her little body didn’t move as a pool of blood mixed with the rain. “Reap what you sow!”
“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” Mom screamed as zebra glyphs formed around her.
I put a hoof on Mom’s shoulder forcing her to look at me. “It’s too late.”
“She just killed your FILLY Shadow!” Mom said through her tears.
I took a step back and sighed. “No, she killed something that isn’t real, just how I killed Wingnut, Shining Star, and Solstice.”
Mom’s eyes went wide, “No…Shadow this is real, please don’t tell me you did that!”
Wind Thrasher just watched with a smile as I said, “I did.” Then before she could react, Misery flipped out from under my duster again and sliced cleanly through my mother’s neck. Her face locked up with shock right before Misery cut her head clean off. Mom’s head rolled to the ground followed by a spray of blood. Then slowly, her body fell to the ground twitching slightly.
I looked down at her body for a long moment then looked back at Wind Thrasher who was laughing. “So, you finally snapped and killed your family. I was wondering how long it was going to take.”
“I had to, it was the only way to free myself from this place. As far as I can tell, you’re the last one left,” I said.
She moved closer to me, stepping over the body of my dead daughter. I didn’t even care anymore. It was like the more I killed the ones I cared about, the less I cared about them. As much as I wanted to feel something for the dead foal, all I could see was a filly that had promise, but she wasn’t mine, just another prize for The Wasteland to claim.
Once Wind Thrasher was close, she took in a deep breath, then let it out with a sound of utter ecstasy, saying, “I love the smell of fresh blood, it’s even better coming from that mare.”
“Out of all the ponies in this world Wind Thrasher, you’re the one I’m saddest about seeing. I never wanted you to become what you are,” I said.
She let out a purr of pleasure as she said, “You should’ve known by now that you can’t change what’s in another’s nature. Look at you, for years you tried to be normal, but you aren’t. You were born to be a killer, just how I was made to be one.”
“I should’ve killed you before you got like this Wind Thrasher,” I said.
“Why? I really don’t mind this, not as much as I used to. After all, it’s what Dr. Cell wanted me to be, a monster,” she said as she started to walk around me.
“What did you do with Envy?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Oh, that bug that wanted to act like he was stronger than me? I cut his head off and threw him over your pathetic walls. I would’ve drained him too, but sadly I don’t like bugs,” she said with a giggle.
“Too bad, I wanted to see how far he’d go before he died. Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped. So, tell me Wind Thrasher, what are you going to do now?” I asked.
“Easy, I want you to end what you started ten years ago,” she pulled something out of the battered saddle bags she had with her and tossed it by my hooves. It was the range finder.
“How’d you get this?” I asked.
“You left it on the ground when you blew up Trotston. I want you to use it to kill me,” she said, taking a few steps back.
That caused me to look up at her, “I thought you wanted me dead? I thought you liked being what you are?”
She grinned her crazy grin again, “I do, but I also know what I am and what I’ll do to ponies who don’t deserve to die. Also, killing me will destroy you. You always wanted to save me, so instead I’m going to let you kill me with the same weapon you used to kill Stardust and my home.”
“I don’t want to kill you Wind Thrasher,” I said with a sigh.
“If you don’t, I’ll kill you, then hundreds more before I finally bite the dust. Now put me out of my misery!” she said, her voice almost sounding normal again, like the real Wind Thrasher was still in there, begging for me to end what she became. “But you better hurry, The Red Talons aren’t far behind me, they will do anything to protect this town you know. They were hunting me when Envy ran into me and told me you were looking for me. So, I thought it would be fun to lead them right here.”
My eyes went wide at that, because there were still a few more things left I had to do before I could finish this. The rain was starting to let up a little and in the distance, I could see at least fifty griffons flying toward Cartwheel. I could make out the white griffon I thought was dead. Gigi was coming with her children and her best fighters. So, in this world, she was still alive and now I’d have to kill her again. The mother of the griffon I loved along with her sisters, but I couldn’t let Wind Thrasher die. That left me with only one choice.
“If you want me to kill you then you’ll have to make me!” I said then I slashed a shallow wound on her chest, picked up Solar Flares Range Finder and ran for it.
“Get back here Shadow!” Wind Thrasher yelled as I made my way for the edge of town.
I’d only have one chance at this, so I ran, hoping I could avoid the crazy bat pony long enough to make it out of town. Solar Flare's Range Finder held in my magic along with Misery. I just reached the edge of town and dove through the gate right as Wind Thrasher flew over and slammed me into the ground. I twisted around and watched as The Red Talons flew into town. They noticed the death around them then saw me at the gate along with Wind Thrasher who was getting back to her hooves.
Gigi yelled as loud as she could, “Shadow behind you!”
I ignored her and pointed The Range Finder at her instead, saying, “Sorry Gigi, but it’s time to retire.”
“Shadow what are you…” she started to say, but I pulled the trigger. A symbol shot into Gigi’s chest and I watched as her eyes turned to horror at what she knew I just did. I backed up as the yellow light fell from the sky then expanded to enclose all of Cartwheel in its barrier. Every single griffon still inside along with every pony who lived in the town.
“NO, that was meant for ME!” Wind Thrasher screamed as she slammed into the ground next to me.
I didn’t care, I just watched as Gigi looked at me in horror through the yellow light. Then as the clouds vanished inside and bathed them all in moonlight. I watched as Gigi, her daughters, her best fighters, and the town I loved vanished in bright light. This is how it should be, Cartwheel was no longer a town, it was just a ruin with one building still standing in my world. Gigi was dead in my world, same for a few of the griffons I saw with her thanks to The Unchained Talons. Let them all return to ash.
When the spell ended, hot air flowed over Wind Thrasher and me, nothing but a glowing crater where the town once stood. Then I was picked up and thrown down the road by the crazed Wind Thrasher, “Why did you do that? I wanted to die! I HATE YOU!”
I just looked up at my friend and sighed, “That’s too bad Wind Thrasher, because I love you. I love you so much that if I could, I’d put you down. Not because I hate you or because it’s the right thing to do for The Wasteland. No, I’d do it because where I’m really from, I wouldn’t let you live like this. The Wind Thrasher I know would’ve wanted me to end her, just like you do. I would kill you, but in here I can’t. Right now, you’re on the edge of becoming a true monster.”
She growled at me and used her scream on me. My ears felt like somepony just stabbed them with a knife and I was thrown back into a rock. I felt one of my legs break as I hit and I screamed. The sound was nothing more than a dull echo. Then I felt her pick me up and slam me to the ground again. As she did, my ears started to pick up the sounds around me again and then I could just make out my friend.
“I am a monster you fucking bitch!” she said as she slammed me into the ground again. “I’ll make you kill me one way or another!”
It was hard to breathe, but I managed to get out, “I’ll never kill you, so either kill yourself like a fucking coward, or let the beast out and kill me. I’m done, I don’t care anymore.”
All I could see in my friend’s face was anger. She bore her teeth and growled, her eyes glowing an even darker red, “Fine, if you really want to die then so be it. I don’t care anymore either!”
I smiled a little, but deep in the back of my mind I was scared that I was wrong about this whole thing. Can’t go back now, time to find out if the Goddesses are real, and same for this world, or if I was really was stuck in my own mind. I closed my eyes as my last friend opened her muzzle, sharp fangs coming down for my throat and prayed, “Luna of the night, Celestia of the day, forgive me for what I’ve done.”
Wind Thrashers fangs sank deep into my throat digging deep into my neck. Blood poured from the places where her fangs sliced through my skin. Two of her longer ones dug into my windpipe and blood started to flow into my lungs. I tried to gag but Wind Thrasher tightened her jaw so I couldn’t even swallow or move my neck at all. I couldn’t even scream as pain filled my mind, my legs kicked against her hard scales as my body protested this violent act. The body wants to live. I kicked and bucked, but it didn’t help one bit. My head started to go foggy, my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen. My body started to go cold, the thrashing slowing, my body going stiff. Then I felt something change in what Wind Thrasher was doing. Blood started to flow up into her maw. I could feel my body shriveling up as the blood left my body, my sight faded to black, sounds around me vanished, and I was left with nothing but pain as my friend sucked me dry. Damn, dying was painful…………
***
Odd, death felt a lot like the chamber inside my head where Aquila was trapped most of the time. Either that, or I had one fucked up dream and wet the bed. If I did, I gotta remember not to drink so much before bed. I hope it wasn’t the latter, that would suck. I was lying in a thin layer of water, it was warm, not a good sign if my other idea was true. I opened my eyes and almost laughed as I saw the white world inside my own head. I got to my hooves hoping that everything I saw was a dream even the part about Aquila taking over. I looked around and felt my heart sink as I saw, in the middle of the white chamber, a destroyed cage. The same one I’d seen Aquila in last time I was here.
I looked behind me and saw the remains of a black metal box. That must have been my cage. I wonder if Aquila did that or something else happened to me. As that thought came, a small voice said, “Yes, I did do that to you…well part of me did.”
I twisted back around toward the voice and saw a small white light. It was no bigger than a bullet for Dream Walker, “What are you?”
The light pulsed as it spoke, “I am Aquila, but I’m also not Aquila.”
“Get away from me!” I yelled.
“Shadow, I’m not the dark part of my power, the one you’ve known since you first met me. I’m the small spark of good left,” she said as she flew around me then stopped an inch away from my nose.
“What good? You’re nothing but evil,” I said.
“No pony is truly evil, not even a creature like me who spent two hundred years locked up in a lab forced to feel the suffering in this land,” she said.
“You’re not a pony, you’re just a collection of magic that has a consciousness, an evil one,” I said.
“After being stuck with me for so long, I can’t believe that you think that. I have a soul just as much as you do, but sadly over the years I’ve let my anger and hatred for what was done to me when I was still new, change what I was meant for,” she said.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“I know, let me try this. I was created to be a force for good in Equestria, a force to fix this world. My father wanted me to come to Equus a lot later than I did. Since I wasn’t fully developed when I came down here because of the Children of the Night, I could not understand the feelings around me or block them,” she explained, “I had to force myself to block my feelings so I could survive the torment and I let myself grow dark. This little part of me that is still good and filled with light was pushed further and further away as the years went on. That was until I became part of you Shadow.”
“How would merging with me, help you’re light?” I asked.
A giggling came from the light and it whizzed around the chamber again then stopped in front of me once more, saying, “Silly filly, it’s part of what makes you who you are. You haven’t realized it yet, but you have a gift, one unlike any pony on Equus has ever had before. It’s because of that gift that I was able to stay as strong as I am now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m so fucking special. If that’s true, then what gift do I have?”
“I can’t tell you Shadow, you have to figure that out on your own. It’s part of your special talent after all,” she said happily.
“Great, more secrets,” I said with a sigh.
“It’s not a secret, you just need to start listening to your heart and you’ll begin to understand. Look back on your life and that will also help, but I can’t just tell you. In your world, a pony needs to figure out who they are on their own. It’s part of growing up,” she said.
“Fine, then can you at last tell me what’s going on ‘Aquila’?” I rose my hooves up and swayed them up and down as if making air quotes, then added, “So do I call you good Aquila or something else?”
She giggled again. “No matter what part of me you talk with, I’m still the same creature, just a separate entity.”
“I’d say this is making my head hurt, but I’m not even sure this is my head anymore,” I said rubbing my eyes. “I can’t even figure out if I’m still in a cage, my own head, or if I’m being punished for the evil I committed just now.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, but it was the only way to break the locks the other me put on that cage. I thought…or the other me thought you wouldn’t ever be able to do what you did. I think she underestimated you,” the not Aquila, Aquila said. Say that ten times fast.
“I just wish I could forget it all, I don’t want to remember killing those foals, my mother, my friends, watching Wind Thrasher become a monster,” I said as the memories of what I just did started to slam into me. “It’s horrible.”
“I wish I could take that pain away, but you have to live with it. If you can overcome what you were capable of doing in that fake world, you’ll come out the other side as a better and wiser pony,” she said.
My eyes went wide as I thought about what happened before the cage, “Did you, or the other you kill my friends? Did she really take over, what happened?”
The small light floated back a little as it said, “She’s had your body for three days. Even now, she’s finishing up one of the last things she has to before you take over again.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The other part of me has known you were breaking out for a day now. Once she pulled your uncle out, she knew what was happening so she started to do what she had to before she let you have your body back,” she said, sounding sad.
“Like what?” I asked.
“I don’t know, she’s blocked some of it from me and you. Whatever she’s doing though, it isn’t good,” she said.
“You have to know something. What about my friends?” I asked.
“I know that the friends you traveled with are fine, this also means Oricalcos and your mother are fine as well. I can’t say the same for the rest, like I said she’s blocked a lot from us both. All you can do now is take over again and try to stop what she started. You’re going to have to get to Grim before it’s too late. You won’t have long before her plan comes into fruition,” she said sounding like she was in a hurry.
“Can Mom really help me? Also, what happens if I’m able to stop her plan?” I asked.
“If you’re lucky, then you’ll survive, but both sides of us won’t. Worse case is we all die. Either way, it’s all you have left. Whatever you do, don’t ever try to kill yourself again, that’s what made her take over when she did. Even if you feel her taking control again, just let it happen, you’re strong enough to get control back, even if it takes a while,” she said.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“I am, now be ready for this next part. Both of our minds, including the other me is about to reset. When it does you might see what happened while you were trapped, or not. Either way, as soon as your back in control, be ready to get to Los Alicorn as fast as you can,” she said as the room around us started to go dark and in the distance, I could hear the chilling laugh of the Aquila I knew all too well.
“How do I know I can trust you?” I asked quickly.
She giggled again. “Trust is something that you can’t afford anymore. You don’t need to trust me, you’ll know I’m right when you get control again…” she stopped talking as a rumble went through the chamber, then she spoke again, “NO…is she crazy?”
“What happened?” I asked.
She spoke quickly ignoring my question, “Don’t go into the core! Call for help as soon as you can and whatever you do, don’t try fighting Security!”
“What security? what’s going…” the world exploded into light then vanished.
The last thing I heard as everything went black was Aquila, “This will keep you busy…Shadow STAR! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
***
I opened my eyes once I felt my body lying on a hard ground. Groaning I slowly sat up wondering if I was in another fake world or my own body again. I opened my eyes and winced as fresh pain flowed through my body. It wasn’t physical pain, it felt like I used too much magic too quickly. I took a moment to relax my breathing then I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn’t anywhere near Los Alicorn or New Pegasus. The air around me was thick and had a green hue to it. It was drizzling and slightly foggy out. In the distance I could hear gunshots and screams.
I rubbed my head then looked down at my body. My coat was back to its normal black, my Mark II was still with me, and I could feel my magic weakly inside of myself. In the very far depths of my mind I could just make out Aquila’s presence. It felt like she was sleeping, but not caged up anymore. She let me go, but why? What did she mean when she said ‘this should keep me busy’? Right now, I couldn’t worry about that, I needed to get ahold of my friends. Somehow, I had to let them know I was alive.
The question was how was I going to do that? I need to know where I was and how far I’d have to go to get a broadcast to them. So, I got to my hooves, and looked around trying to get some idea of where I was. In the distance I could see a huge black city surrounded by a green haze, a huge black tower going right up into the clouds at its center. Something about it seemed familiar almost like I’ve seen it before, but with my head still pounding from the hell I just escaped, I couldn’t think of where I’d seen that city.
“Well one thing’s for sure, I’m not even close to home,” I said to myself.
I was on an old freeway that led toward the city, a few feet down the crumbling road I saw a sign that was slightly covered with the fog. I shook my head again and started to walk closer to it. As I moved I realized that I had no armor on, no saddle bags, and none of my weapons. The only thing I had was my Mark II, just like the day I escaped my stable. No wait, even then I had a security baton and some lightly armored Stable 28 barding. This is gonna suck.
Finally, the sight came into focus and as soon as my eyes ran over the words I felt my stomach sink, my heart stopped and I wanted somepony to just shoot me now. Anything would be better than what I just read…
Welcome to
Hoofington
[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]
NEW PERK ADDED!
Mrs. Sandpony: After your experience in the cage, you’ve gained the ability to kill anyone in their sleep silently. Just remember to close the door first, you devious little murderer you.
REGION PERK ADDED!
Star Eater: Due to your proximity to Hoofington and its enervation, Aquila will be less of a problem for you while you stay in this region. Once you leave however, everything will go back to normal.