“What about after this is all over? What are you going to do with us? With Aquila?”

The Director of the Ministry, the mare who’s been pulling my mothers leash for most of my life. The one who started Mom on this quest to find Aquila and a cure for me. The figure no pony knew anything about apart from my mother and the ponies who lived in this strange place. Even after my mother promised she could help get Aquila out of me in this place, I still didn’t trust The Director. I didn’t know what her end goals were or what she wanted with a power like Falling Shadows or Aquila. Was she a friend or a foe, did she really want to help stop Falling Shadows, or use it to take over The Wasteland? From what I’ve heard about The Ministry and their synths replacing ponies, I was sure it was the latter.

“Director huh?” I said up toward the ceiling, “So, you’re the infamous pony who talked my mom into coming out west to find Falling Shadows and Aquila.”

“Yes I am, and more, please don’t stand around that small escape room, head toward the tube and push the call button. An elevator will take you down to the main level where Grim and your friends are waiting for you,” The Director said.

“No, I only know you’re there because we got a signal that three ponies entered the escape room. That area of The Ministry is older and doesn’t have a camera system. Normally the only ponies that can enter that area are our coursers or the lead engineers. I’d love to find out how you were able to get in that way, since your mother told you to find our Synth at The Equestrian Bank Tower,” she said.

“Long story, maybe I’ll tell you once I know I can trust you,” I said heading for the terminal.

“I assure you Shadow that I or my team have no intention of hurting you. We’ll see you soon,” The Director said before cutting off the mic with an audible hissing crackle.

“What now?” Byte asked, looking around the smaller room, “This place really isn’t what I expected from the stories I’ve heard.”

“I’m sure it’s different once we go down,” Wingnut said, looking over at me messing with the terminal, “What are you doing Shadow?”

“Don’t worry about it, I just need a minute,” I said as I booted up the old terminal then plugged in the other device Mr. Tops gave me.

“That phrase is reserved for geniuses only. You know next to nothing about computers,” Wingnut quipped.

“Ppfftt, whatever, just shut up and let me do my thing for a sec,” I said with a wave of my hoof.

It took a moment, but then I saw a loading bar starting up across the screen followed by a voice echoing out of the terminal. “Good job Shadow, I was wondering how much longer you were going to take to reach The Ministry,” Mr. Tops’s voice said.

He chuckled, “No, I’ve already cut off all communications to this room as soon as you plugged in my chip. Now just wait a moment while the information I need loads.”

“I don’t have a lot of time so please make it snappy,” I said as the loading bar worked its way across the screen.

“Almost done…there we go, now once I’m finished talking pull the chip out and hide it in your saddle bags, all the information I’ll need is on there. I can’t afford to lose that intel,” he said.

I thought about it for a moment then said, “I might have a better idea, can you put the intel on my Pip-Buck instead? It’ll be a lot safer there than on something that can be taken from me.”

“Not a bad idea, quick, plug in your Pip-Buck and I’ll get it started,” he said.

I did as Wingnut came over, asking, “Mr. Tops, why can’t you just upload the information right to you?”

“It would take too much time, and it’s taking all of my concentration doing what I’m doing now with that chip in place. It’s a small bypass program that let’s me control their systems without them finding me. Also if I pull the intel to myself and managed to get it all without losing any of it, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to follow the code back and reverse hack my systems and those of The Lucky Horseshoe.”

“Makes sense I guess, but why did you need Shadow to get you in here?” Byte asked.

“That’s my business child,” he said then relaxed, “Okay Shadow it’s all uploaded to your Pip-Buck on a file named TLH, you can give me the file when you come back to New Pegasus,” he said, “Now pull the chip out and destroy it, good luck and thank you again.”

“No problem Mr. Tops, see you later,” I said, then pulled the chip out and the connection to my Pip-Buck. I dropped the chip on the ground and stomped on it until it was nothing more than powdered splinters, “Okay, now that mission is done, let’s go see our friends.”

“You sure that was a good idea? How do you know Mr. Tops can be trusted?” Wingnut asked.

“I don’t trust him, but he’s also been a decent pony or whatever he is, since I met him. He also paid me for this job, so I’m gonna go though with it. Now let’s go you two,” I said, walking over to the lift and hitting the button.

A moment later, a metal disk hovered up to the platform and a glass door opened into a tube. The three of us stepped on it and without any of us doing anything else, the lift started to go down slowly. For a long moment we were plunged into darkness as the lift went through the thick floor we’d just been on, then bright light almost blinded us as we entered a new world. My eyes went wide along with Byte’s and Wingnut’s as we slowly descend on The Ministry.

Below us was a large circular courtyard with a large fountain right below the lift platform. Ponies were everywhere either sitting on the benches below, walking across the yard, or talking at a dinner table. Past the large open area there were large open archways, six in total with different symbols above each, by each arch there were ponies in either lab coats, jumpsuits of some kind, or military looking outfits. I saw newer looking Synths waiting on ponies to order food or to buy something at small shops. There were ponies in dark trench coats with sunglasses on all over the place near one of the archways. I saw what looked like dogs…normal dogs, playing with foals, nice clothes being sold, and up the walls were balconies with older ponies relaxing in the artificial sunlight streaming down from overhead. To top it all off, everypony was clean and happy and well fed. If there was something like paradise still in Equestria, it was here.

The lift was reaching the bottom when I finally saw them. Aura, Mom, Wind Thrasher, Stardust, Solstice, and Oricalcos, all waiting for us at the bottom of the ramp. As soon as the door to the glass elevator opened, Aura and Stardust both ran toward me pulling me into a three-way hug. I gasped for air saying in a squeaky voice, “Too tight, too tight.”

“We’re so glad you made it here finally, we were worried sick about you,” Stardust said, still not letting me go.

“I’m glad the plan worked and you found these two, it was a risk leaving them behind but it worked,” Aura said from the other side of me.

“Okay you two, don’t suffocate her,” I heard Mom say, a moment later they both let me go. Mom smiled as she looked at me, saying, “Good to see you made it here in one piece, though I’m surprised you came through this way.”

“We found our own way here,” Byte said as she pushed past me, her eyes taking in everything around us, “This place can’t be real. Did we die when we tried to use that teleporter thingy?”

“It’s like we walked into the past, I’ve never seen anything this clean before,” Wingnut added as he also pushed past me to stand next to Byte.

“I assure you it’s quite real, we are very-far underground right now. This is The Ministry and The Director wants to meet you three before we continue on with our little project,” Mom said.

“Hold up a sec,” I said as I followed her down the ramp, kissing Aura quickly before I did so, “First of all, why in the Goddess’ name was I left on a beach of death? Second, why the hell did you leave two foals in that city?”

“That was my idea Shrimp, plus they’re hardly foals anymore,” Aura said sheepishly, “We were attacked by Steel Rangers, they have guns on most of the tall buildings all over Los Alicorn. We couldn’t risk having you die while you were sleeping so we needed to put you down in a safe place. I then had the kids dropped in another safe place so they could go find you while we tried to draw their attention away.”

“That has to be the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard,” I said looking at her in shock.

“Well it worked didn’t it?” Solstice asked, “And she’s not telling you the whole truth. We were going to send one of us to wait for you, but didn’t have time. She didn’t drop you off, she kicked you out the door when we flew low over the sand. I’m surprised you didn’t break anything. I said a few minutes later that we should send someone back to get you once you woke up.”

Well that explained the pain I was in when I woke up, “So you sent the kids?”

“Not exactly,” Byte said, “At first they were going to send Oricalcos, but Grim said it would be a bad idea. I guess they have ponies who know how to stop him in this city. Then they were going to send Solstice, but since she’s Enclave technically, she risked being killed slowly if they caught her. They kept on arguing over and over about who should go once we reached a safe spot. So, Wingnut and I just got out of the Sky carriage after hearing Aura’s plan and ran.”

“I did manage to get a message to them a few minutes later using Grim’s Pip-Buck to broadcast to Byte’s. I would’ve gone after them, but we fell under attack again,” Aura said.

“And you just decided to come wait here for me?” I asked, looking at them dumbfounded.

Oricalcos finally spoke up, saying, “It was the only safe place after the Sky Carriage blew up.”

“Oh, yeah, kinda forgot that part,” Stardust said, scratching the back of his head and looking sheepish.

“No,” Mom said, “The Rangers clipped the magical generator and it started going unstable. It would’ve blown with us in it or out of it. So, we flew as close to a Ministry entry point as we could and well…jumped out. Aura took me to the ground, Oricalcos doesn’t need help since he has no body, and the rest are fliers.”

Wind Thrasher, who looked sicker than she did when I saw her last added, “Then we landed by some building, your mom did something with the wall and there was a flash of light and we were here. End of story, now can we get on with all of this? I’m not feeling well, and I wanna lie down.”

“Fine, but how are we going to get back home?” I asked, “It’s not like Sky Carriages are easy to find.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Aura said, “For now, I’m just glad you’re safe. This place is pretty cool once you get use to it. They have this food printer thingy that’ll make anything. It’s like that one space show ponies watched a long time ago.”

I hung my head and looked at all of them, “Fine, let’s get this meeting over with and finish up with the bitch in my head once and for all.”

Aura smiled, it was still strange to see her as a pony, but I managed to smile back as she pulled me close and hugged me. “Just wait till you see what Grim’s put together, I think we have a fighting chance now. Oh, and you’ll like The Director, she’s interesting.”

“Yes she is, and very smart,” Mom said as she started to lead us away from the onlooking ponies of The Ministry, “First though, my friend is going to have a look at you three to make sure you’re okay and free of any radiation. That’s one thing The Ministry does whatever it can to keep out of this place. Oh, and you’ll also get a shower and I’ll have one of the synths look after your armor and barding.”

“No way, no pony is touching Shadow’s armor but me. I’ve done a lot of modifications to that armor and I’m not letting some robot mess it all up,” Wingnut said, stomping his hoof as he followed.

“Fine, then I’ll have some tools brought over to the suite we’ll be staying in while were here. Even if Beta is a master of all tools,” Mom said, “Now where the hell did she get off to, I told her I wanted her close in case you showed up.”

“Who are you talking about Mom?” I asked, looking around as we passed by the overly clean ponies of The Ministry and their synths, “Is it the Director?”

“No dear, it’s my best…” Mom started but was interrupted by a voice from my past, a voice that shouldn’t even be able to speak, because I’d cut her throat in the tower in Whinnieapolis.

“Grimoire, there you are, I’ve been looking all over for you and you know how annoyed I get when I have to walk around searching somepony down. I’m a very busy pony and don’t have time to babysit your brain damaged ass,” the voice of Dr. Stormy said from down the ramp just in front of us.

I looked up in shock and a moment later pulled Dream Walker out of its holster and pointed it up and the older look-a-like of myself. Only with a grayer mane and dark orange eyes. I stopped where I was as I sighted on her head, “How the hell are you still alive!?”

She looked down at me confused, her eyes meeting mine before she said in that same board voice I remembered when I said I would blow her brains out with a pistol, “Why does everypony from The Wasteland have to be such a drama queen? Who are you anyway? You’re annoying and if you don’t have to be here don’t be.”

“No Stardust! That bitch should be dead, I cut her throat in Mill City Tower before I blew it up. She’s the mare who started the Devil’s Children Program. She’s the one who made you what you are!” I yelled.

“I know, she told me all about it…wait what do you mean you killed her? I knew about the whole program, which if you listen to her you’ll understand how far that went from her original plan, but she can’t be the mare you killed,” he said.

Stormy interrupted us. “So, you’re the little twerp who broke my body double huh? I was wondering about that. I couldn’t get the data back from that day because of what you did to the tower. That was very rude of you I hope you know. Do you know how much time goes into making a synth of her caliber?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “So, you expect me to believe that thing I killed wasn’t you, but a robot?”

Stormy rolled her eyes. “I do so hate it when ponies call them robots. The generation three synths are far more sophisticated than a normal robot. They are a 99.5% percent match to a real pony. Everything within them is organic tech down to the very blood they have running through their bodies. Apart from a small chip in their heads and some very small details, you can’t tell the difference between a real pony and a synthetic one.”

“If you want to put it in idiot terms, then yes, I’m making roboclones. It’s a lot faster and much cheaper way of cloning,” Stormy said, looking over at Grim, “I thought you said The Courier was smart?”

“She is smart Stormy, but not with stuff like this,” Mom said looking annoyed.

Stormy looked back at me, “And you say she’s your daughter too, the one you told me died?”

“I am her daughter, she’s just got brain damage from overuse of her zebra spells,” I said in a huff.

Aura snickered at that as Mom face-hoofed. Stormy just shrugged, “I told her before that overusing those spells would be a bad idea, but she never listens to me. If she had, she wouldn’t have married Nightshade. Still, I guess you do look like the filly I met many years ago, just a different mane and coat, but those eyes are hard to mistake for another’s. Interesting, I guess you get your smarts from your fathers side, all guns, bombs, and glory! No care in the world for books and proper learning. Live fast, die young. Go out with a bang.”

“Hey don’t talk to her like that!” Aura yelled, “She’s plenty book smart.”

I face-hooved in my mind. Thanks Aura, but I know I’m not. Oh well, at least she’s defending me. Stormy looked at her then laughed. “Well at least she has good taste in mares, too bad I didn’t meet you a few years ago. You would’ve been such a fun toy.”

Aura visibly shivered. “Hey, I’m not a pony, I’m a griffon. I’ve told you that like three times now!”

Stormy grinned, “You look like a mare right now and that’s all I care about. Plus, you came from The Wasteland so chances are your just crazy. I met a stallion once who thought he was a ghoul. Can you imagine that?” she then turned back to face the rest of us, “Well anyway, welcome to The Ministry, my name is Doctor Stormy, head researcher and third seat on the council. You three need to come with me so I can have our doctor get you cleaned up and make sure you’re not bringing in anything we don’t want in The Ministry. Once that is over you’ll be coming to the council chambers to meet with The Director herself. Be mindful of the delousing powder, it stings like a bitch.”

Yeah this was definitely the same Stormy I’d seen in Mom’s memory orbs. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I killed a synth in that tower and not the real one. She seemed so real when I cut her throat. I could see now why The Steel Rangers and the ponies who knew about The Ministry were so scared of them. They could replace ponies in The Wasteland with perfect copies. Well, I was here now, and I can’t do much until Mom is finished getting rid of Aquila. So, I started to follow along with my friends.

As we walked toward the arch with a large red cross on it, Wingnut asked, “So if you want to keep this place clean, then why are you having us follow you through the main chamber?”

Stormy laughed. “Smart colt. Well, to answer your question, it’s because I have a spell over you three keeping anything around you from escaping within a few centimeters of your body. It’s like being in a plastic bubble you won’t horribly suffocate in.”

“You cast a spell on us?” Byte asked, looking at her hooves like she would see a shimmering aura around herself.

“Of course I did, as soon as you arrived upstairs,” Stormy said as she led us up the steps.

“I’ve been doing that kind of long-distance spell work for most of my life, it’s not that hard anymore,” Stormy said.

Oricalcos came up next to me, saying, “Stormy was one of the top unicorns in her class in The Crystal Empire, she was a grade above your mother. She also finished her secondary schooling in one year, something that normally takes three, she’s got four doctorates in microbiology, robotic engineering, magical manipulation, and cyber hacking and programming. She has an IQ of 210, she’s one of the smartest mares in all of The Enclave and even here at The Ministry I’d bet.”

“Awww Ori, you flatter me as always, but I still won’t sleep with you, so stop trying dear,” Stormy said, followed by a loud laugh.

“I heard that Grim, don’t make me tie you to my bed later,” Stormy replied as we reached the doors.

“And I thought I was bad,” I said as my friends came close looking at the large doors.

“Okay Shadow, this isn’t so bad, the doctor’s a good dude but he likes to play pranks so don’t let him get to you okay,” Stardust said with a kind smile.

“Well yes, of course you are,” A slim older stallion said as he came out of the door. He had a honey colored coat with pale blue eyes and mane. He smiled at the foals, “But not too many, normally it only takes me six maybe seven to get your system flushed.”

Byte’s eyes went wide, “I…I’ll go wait outside, I don’t want a shot.”

“Sorry dear, but you can’t leave. No pony can without The Director saying so. So, buck up and get over yourself,” Stormy said with a large smile, “Dr. Elm, this is Grim’s daughter Shadow and her two wards, Um…Whiner and Light.”

“It’s Wingnut and Byte,” Wingnut said as Byte shook like a leaf, her voice seeming to escape her.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Stormy asked, looking back at me, “Whatever, anyway they need to be cleared of everything toxic, and The Director wants it done Yesterday. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“No problem Stormy, I’m ready for them and we’ve cleared the clinic for a couple of hours,” he said looking over at us, “Okay jokes aside, this will take a little bit of time, but there will only be one shot I promise, and you won’t feel it much, so you can calm down little filly. Now if you’d all follow me, we can get this started.”

Aura kissed me, ignoring the giggles from Stormy, then said, “You’ll be fine, we’ll be waiting for you out here. Just relax a little and try not to shoot anypony.”

“They’re letting me keep my weapons?” I asked, just noticing then that I was still holding Dream Walker and hosteled it.

Stormy shrugged, “You can keep them as long as you don’t go around trying to shoot up anypony. If you try that, the coursers will turn you into dust faster than you can blink. Now let’s go.”

I took in a deep breath and walked into the clinic. My eyes fell on a shocking room of white walls, white chairs, silver tables and tools, and a black desk in the corner. It was like color was a sin here. It was so shocking to my eyes that I had to squint as I walked in, Byte and Wingnut close behind. Dr. Elm closed the door behind us and walked over to the desk.

“Each one of you pick a clinic bed and wait for me there, I just need to enter your information into the computer, and we can begin,” he said, typing something up on his terminal. It was an odd-looking terminal with a flat screen and a cord going to a small box about the size of my hoof.

“Oh, I guess you wouldn’t have seen a newer model computer in The Wasteland huh. This is the latest of The Ministry’s design, based off some of the Carrot Company designs. They are a lot faster than terminals and have a lot more power than what you’re used to. They’re also hack proof. We’ve just modified them over the years to be even better,” he said as he finished.

“This terminal is,” he said, stepping away from his desk, “Some of our best hackers have tried and still nopony has gotten into it,” he said with a chuckle.

“Bet you a hundred caps that I can, maybe with the help of Byte,” I said with a bigger grin.

“Ha, if you can break into this terminal, I’d give you more than those bottle caps you call currency. I’d let you have my prized weapon, it’s the prize I’ve offered anypony here that thinks they can crack this computer,” he said.

Byte smiled before looking over at me then back to the Doctor, “Do you Ministry ponies have high yield magical energy crystals here?”

The question took him by surprise. “Yes, of course we do, it’s something we need for our work with the synths.”

“Throw in five of those, the weapon, and five hundred caps and I’ll do it,” she said.

She rolled her eyes and wiggled hers right back at me. “Trust me Shadow, mines got better software than yours, mine belonged to Applebloom herself. Mines the first Mark II, you stupid bug.”

I almost Called her out for using that bug word again but thought better of it. She was a capable filly and loved to show off and one-up others, so what’s the harm in trying. The Doctor looked between the two of us then shrugged. “Fine, deal, but after we’re finished.”

Dr. Elm just shook his head and pulled over a tray with three needles on it, “You’ll fail just like the rest, but have fun trying. Now let’s get started.”

Two painful hours later we were finished, Dr. Elm was right about the shots they didn’t hurt much at all. The cleansing as he called it was a different story. Apparently, our bodies had undergone a lot of damage from radiation over the time we’ve spent in The Wasteland, causing small problems in our systems that he needed to fix. How did he fix this you ask? By making us drink a potion, putting us into our own private restrooms and letting our bodies flush it out…yeah….that was not fun, the gut pains from it still made my stomach twitch in irritation. This was followed by running a small laser over our bodies that removed any kind of small defects in our DNA and fixed it. Once this was done and I felt like I’d just ran through a fire, he proceeded to push us into an extremely cold shower and forced us to wash every…single… reachable inch of our bodies. I felt more violated when that was done than I had when I was in the bathroom. At least Stormy was lying about the powder. He also took our armor and barding and had them cleaned. But he made sure not to mess with it at all just like Wingnut had asked. But all in all, when it was all over, I felt better than I had in a while, sore, but better.

“Okay, Byte, I’ll have to say that your body is quite remarkable for a mare who has lived in The Wasteland her entire life. You had the least amount of damage,” Dr. Elm said.

“I lived in a place a lot like this called Trotston my whole life, I didn’t get out much. Spent most of my time around sterile environments,” she said with a shrug.

“Yes, that would make sense. I’ve heard that Trotston is quite a remarkable place,” he said, then looked at Wingnut, “You my lad were a lot worse, though still well for the life I’ve heard you lived.”

He laughed. “Okay fine, my mom used to when I was young, and I just kept up the habit.”

“A bath three times a day wouldn’t make you healthier Wingnut, what I think it is, is that you have a natural resistance to magical radiation. It happens from time to time. As for you Shadow,” he said looking at me.

“Yeah I’m sure it’s the worst, I’ve been around a lot of radiation and more over the past few weeks,” I said rolling my eyes.

“Actually, no, you had no signs of any radiation sickness in your system. Your DNA is the same as it would’ve been when you were born. Your body shows no signs of ever being sick or having any issues. I did everything I would for most ponies who come here just to be safe, but still it’s like you never stepped a hoof outside of a clean space. It’s quite odd if I do say so myself. Tell me have you ever had a cold, or the flu, or anything like that?” he asked.

“I had a bad heart when I was young due to a dark spell, but that’s all I can think of,” I said, wondering where he was going with this.

“Ah, yes, your scans show that, but you are better now. What I mean however is that you show no signs of ever getting truly sick. A natural virus like everypony gets,” he said.

“No, not that I can think of. I’ve seen Auntie get them now and then and I used to have to take care of her when they got really bad, but I’ve never gotten it. I thought I was just lucky,” I replied.

“No, I don’t think so. From what Grim has said, Aquila was joined with Shadow when she was six years old. She should’ve gotten sick a few times before then. That is very odd, I’ll have to ask Grim about it later,” he said.

“I’ve never heard of it before in my life. That is why I find it so strange, very strange indeed,” he said.

“So you’re saying that for some strange reason that you can’t explain I’m a perfectly healthy pony?” I asked.

It took him a moment to answer. As he sat there thinking to himself I saw Byte go over to his terminal and start doing something with her Mark II. As she worked Dr. Elm finally said, “I guess so, The Director mostly wanted you three cleared of any toxins that could damage our home. You’re all as clean as can be so I guess we’re finished here.”

“Not just yet,” Byte said as she lowered her hoof and started typing on his terminal.

Dr. Elm turned around, seeing her there and his eyes went wide. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You said I could try to break into your terminal, so I am. I’ll admit the security on this thing is amazing, but still I’ve seen better…well truthfully I’ve made better,” she said as she stared at the screen, her tongue sticking out as she worked, “Hmmm let’s see, level ten firewall surrounding the main section of your interface, very nice, but sloppy. Just need to make a path around the firewall and keep it intact.”

“That firewall is not the only thing you have to worry about young filly,” Dr. Elm said, looking smug.

She went back to do something with her Mark II, I guess she was using the broadcasting system to keep her hacking software working on his terminal. Then she went back to it. “Oh I know, I saw your little reverse virus attack nodes, I’ve already taken them out, they don’t work on my Pip-Buck and were a little pathetic. Hmmm, let’s see, okay so there’s a second firewall behind the first and two more traps with a fake file system to throw me off…too bad my program makes it light up like a beacon or that might’ve worked. You’ve got another dummy program and two fake firewalls, and more pathways followed by self-destruct programs in case I get too deep,” she said as she kept working, mumbling to herself.

“I’ll give her this, she is a determined little filly. I’ve had my smartest techs try the same thing and none of them could get…” he started to say but Byte threw up her hooves with a triumphant look to her eyes.

“Winner! I’ve managed to get into the main program, without changing anything in your systems, and hid myself so that when I pull out, you’d never know I was in here. So boom, I win, you’re a stupid doctor bug. Give me free shit,” she said, leaning back in his chair.

“What…that’s impossible!” he said running over to look at the screen behind her, his jaw dropping, “H…how did you…how is it even…possible, you’re just a filly!?”

“A filly with an IQ of 217, I’ve been building and programming terminals better than even this one since I could walk, like I said. So now you owe me stuff, and I want said stuff. So cough it up broski,” she said.

“I just am, Wingnut is almost as smart as I am, only with structures and other engineering things. But to be fair, my Pip-Buck has some of the best hacking software around which helped a lot. I’ll admit you made a good security system, but not good enough,” she said, getting off his seat and walking toward me, “Can you believe this buck, he thought I couldn’t do it?”

I just smiled. “What can I say, ponies have a tendency to underestimate you.”

Dr. Elm slammed his hoof on the table. “It’s not fair, you must’ve cheated.”

“Nah, I was a good little filly. By the way Doc, where’s my lollipop? By lollipop I mean my prize, none of that sugar-free crap like a t-shirt and my name on the wall,” Byte said smugly.

The door to the clinic opened and the voice I overheard said, “Dr. Elm, why is it taking so long for you to finish up in here and why are you attacking your desk?”

It was the voice of The Director. Dr. Elm’s eyes went wide and he said, “Madam Director, my apologies, but this mare managed to hack into my terminal.”

I turned to get my first look at this mysterious Director of The Ministry and instantly had the feeling that she looked familiar. She was taller with a bright white coat, a mane the color of falling leaves in Autumn, her eyes the color of the setting sun, on her flank I saw a tree in full bloom and she reminded me a lot of Vervain in the way her body was built, even a little in her voice. She smiled and started to laugh, “Dr. Elm I thought you said nopony could hack into your terminal?”

“Miss Director ma’am, he said if I could do it, he’d give me stuff. Now he’s saying I cheated and I didn’t,” Byte said looking angry.

She ignored him looking over at Byte with a kind smile. “You’re Cookie Byte if I remember right. Well tell me, what did he promise you?”

“Five high-yield magical energy crystals, five hundred caps, and a weapon of his,” she said, “Right Wingnut?”

“Yeah that’s what he agreed to,” Wingnut said grinning over at the panicking Doctor.

“Well then, if he’s not upholding his side of the deal then I’ll do it for him. Later today, I’ll make sure to get you what you asked for and I’ll throw in one of my own weapons instead. Seeing how he bragged to everypony here that no one could get past his security, I think you’ve earned it for knocking him down a peg or two. Although, I do have to ask why you want something as dangerous as those crystals?” The Director asked.

“It’s for a project I’m working on, I need them to power it properly without losing the kick it needs to have,” she replied.

“Hmmm interesting, how long did it take you to get into his computer?” The Director asked.

“I don’t know, five minutes, maybe less. I wasn’t really counting,” Byte answered, sounding like it was easier than getting dressed in the morning.

“Grim said you were smart. After we finish helping Shadow, we’ll talk. Okay? Same with you Wingnut, I’d love to hear about your talents too,” she said, giving them both a smile.

“Oh and so polite,” she said, looking back at me as Dr. Elm walked away, going to his private office, “Hello Shadow Star, I’m glad to be able to finally meet you after so many years, I’m…”

Before she could finish, the way she looked finally clicked and I knew her name before she could say it. “You’re White Oak…Box Tapes wife that died years ago, Auntie Vervain’s mother! What’s going on here, you should be twenty years older…and DEAD!? Are you a synth? You have to be a synth, that’s the only explanation.”

Her eyes went wide as I said that. “You know my daughter? You know my husband? Grim didn’t update me on any of that. How are they doing? Is Box Tape still giving his customers a hard time? Has Vervain left that stable yet? Oh I’ve missed so much over the years,” she stopped to take a breath then calmed herself, “I’m sorry, let me answer your questions first. No, I’m not a Synth, and don’t let the way I look fool you about my age, I’m a lot older than you’d think.”

“But…I don’t understand…wait, you didn’t hear about Box Tape?” I said already feeling the tears well up as I remembered his death. I could see it now, Box Tape flying off The Palisade, pulling his pistol to shoot Wolfsbane, him falling to his death with a smile on his face.

White Oak’s eyes went wide as she said, “I heard something happened to Cartwheel, but lately it’s been hard to get updates on everything going on in New Pegasus. Tell me that Box Tape is okay.”

A single tear fell as I shook my head slowly. “No, he’s not. Wolfsbane destroyed Cartwheel, he took my friends and I prisoner, and Box Tape came to rescue us when we were fighting to get away. Wolfsbane took me hostage and forced Box Tape to get out of his armor, then…another fight broke out and Box Tape protected me from an attack by Wolfsbane and was kicked off The Palisade, falling to his death.”

Her eyes were watery as she asked quietly, “My son killed Box Tape? He killed his father?”

She took a long moment to get her emotions under control before finally saying, “I want you to tell me everything that happened while we head to the conference room. Once you’re done, I’ll tell you my story.”

Byte, Wingnut and I followed White Oak out of the doctor’s clinic to where Aura and Solstice were waiting with Stardust and Wind Thrasher. Mom and Oricalcos weren’t there, I guess they had other places to be right now. My friends didn’t say anything as we walked by, just followed as I started to tell White Oak what happened to her husband. It didn’t take to long to go over what happened when The Los Alicorn Steel Rangers attacked, but by the time I finished, we’d walked past two other areas of The Ministry and up an elevator that led to the Conference room where three other ponies were waiting. They greeted White Oak, but she ignored them, letting me finish my story.

When I finally did, she sat at the head of the large table, gesturing for me to sit in the seat next to hers. Then she looked at me, saying, “The unicorn you said threw you off the Palisade must’ve been Hacker, my son’s wife and head of the Scribes. She’s a cruel pony who’s specialty in magic revolves around torture. You’re lucky she just threw you off the top of that airship. But still, I’m sad to hear that Box Tape died the way he did, though knowing him, it’s the way he would’ve wanted to go out. I just wish my daughter didn’t have to see it happen.”

Aura spoke up, saying, “So let me get this straight, the whole time we’ve been trapped here waiting for Shadow and the tiny ones to show up, you never told us you’re Vervain’s mother?”

“I had no reason to, my old life is something I don’t bring up to many ponies. It was part of the deal I made with The Ministry when I came to live here,” White Oak said.

“I’d like to know how that happened, because from what I’ve been told, you died like twenty years ago. Vervain has no idea you’re still alive, same goes for Wolfsbane,” I said.

White Oak took in a deep breath, then looked at the other leaders of The Ministry then back to us. “A long time ago, I was looking into the same project that Grim has been. At the time all I knew about it was that it was called Project Star Gazer, AKA Project Aquila, from the bits of information I found. I had no idea what it could do, but I had a feeling it was something that could be used to fix what’s happened to Equestria since the war. It was later that I found out about Falling Shadows thanks to Grim,” she said, tilting her head toward Mom. Where did she come from? I must have not noticed her while I was talking to White Oak

Mom shrugged. “I mostly found out because of the files on the Mark II and information I got from one of Night Stalker’s old safehouses, along with tales I heard from Griffons who heard about it from ponies they worked for in the past.”

White Oak sighed then continued, “Yes, well about twenty years ago, I thought I found what I needed to finally unlock the secrets of this project, so I went on what I hoped would be my last mission for The Steel Rangers. Box Tape wanted to come with me, but I told him to stay behind and be there for our children. I was on the outskirts of Los Alicorn when I found another safehouse of The Children of the Night. It took me a few days to find a way to get into it, but I had no idea the place was a decoy and trapped. The should-be safehouse, exploded and I was as gravely injured. In the explosion I lost all of my notes and journals when my saddle bags were blown off me. If it wasn’t for The Ministry, I would’ve died there and then, like most thought I had.”

An old unicorn stallion with a bald head said, “Yes, White Oak happened to come across a damaged synth. She’d managed to drag herself quite a ways from the site of the explosion. This synth had enough program left working to send a distress signal to a team of coursers. They picked her up and brought here back here, where we used our technology to heal her and replace the parts of her that were damaged.”

White Oak spoke again, “Thank you Dr. Sails. Well he’s right, I was almost dead when I got here and after two months of healing and many surgeries, I was finally able to leave the clinic.”

“Yeah sounds like you had parts of your body swapped out for something else,” Solstice added.

“I did,” she said, lifting one of her forelegs, “Back then, our generation three synths weren’t complete yet, but we could make nearly identical body parts. I lost two of my legs, an eye, half the skin and coat on the left side of my body, one lung wasn’t working properly anymore, and same for my heart, it was damaged. I lost most of my teeth and most of my ribs were broken along with my pelvis. Everything was either repaired or replaced with synthetic parts. My heart and one lung, my left foreleg and hindleg, my left eye, and the skin and coat. It’s all not real and thanks to that, my body is more than half synthetic. My whole face had to be redone too when they started the process.”

“It is, most of my body doesn’t age so I appear much younger than I am. Technically I am a bit younger considering I got new parts. It probably added quite a few years to my lifespan,” she said.

“What I don’t get is why didn’t you go back home or let your family know you were okay?” Solstice asked, “Family is everything, why would you let them worry about you or think you were dead?”

A mare in a military looking outfit spoke next, saying, “She didn’t have much of a choice. Ministry Rules state that no pony once they enter this place, can leave again. Or it used to be.”

“Commander Emerald is right, back then I couldn’t leave once I was in this place. It’s to keep The Ministry safe and hidden. I wanted more than anything to let my family know I was okay, I even tried to escape a few times at the beginning, and I would’ve kept trying if it wasn’t for the former Director. He was a kind old buck who took me under his wing and showed me footage from how my family was doing after my death. I saw that Box Tape was sad but doing well and running his shop the same way he always wanted to. I saw that he left The Steel Rangers for good, my daughter was training to be a knight and my son was on his way to making Paladin. They moved on without me and didn’t need me anymore. So, I started helping this place and putting my knowledge into making it better. Almost thirteen years ago, The Former Director passed away and I was named the new Director. Once I was the one leading this place, I started making changes.”

Emerald made an annoyed sound, then said, “Yeah, she changed a lot of how we operate, not for the better if you ask me.”

White Oak glared at her. “I know your position on the changes I’ve made Commander, but in my leadership, we’ve made huge leaps in synth development thanks to me bringing in Dr. Stormy, Grimoire, and others. We are closer to finding the project that can fix Equestria and doing what the first founders of The Ministry wanted when they formed this place.”

“I always wanted to know, why do you all call this place, The Ministry?” I asked.

The last stallion who hadn’t spoken yet answered, “When Los Alicorn was attacked, the six Ministry hubs that were located just down the road from The UELA campus joined together and escaped to this underground shelter made by The Ministry of Arcane Science. Well, most of them did at least. We didn’t have many members from Image or Awesome, but the rest banded together and started calling this place, The Ministry, since every ministry was represented here.”

“So, you all just banded together and started making robots huh? Cool, like a high school science club. Did ya make ‘em fight each other too?” Stardust asked.

“Not at first,” The stallion said, “That came later, at first we started by helping ponies escape the fallout from the megaspells and balefire. Later when The Ministry was fully hidden and the ponies who went missing were forgotten, former members of the MWT and MAS started working on making synths. They were first created to keep an eye on what was going on in the world above, but the project had a lot of problems over the years. The first Synths were easy to spot as not being ponies and we couldn’t get them to act like normal ones either. So yes, they did fight, but not because we made them.”

White Oak spoke up next, saying, “He’s right, a little over one hundred years ago, a stallion finally broke one of the problems we had with synths and was able to give them a personality. They had two prototypes they tried out, one with memories of a pony from before the war, the second with some memories of a pony from before the war and fake ones mixed in. The former was a failure and was scrapped, the second one led us to the Gen two synth. Well I should say Gen Two and a half really. We had a working synth way back then, but they broke down fast, their minds not able to comprehend the reason for life. The 2.5 models however did a lot better.”

“Wait a sec,” I said looking at White Oak, “Was one of the synths with memories of the past called Lonely Hearts?”

“You mean X-001? Yes, he was implanted with the memories of a police detective from those times. I think his name was Lonely Hearts, why do you ask?” she said.”

“Because…I’ve met him. I also saw a Lonely Hearts in an old security video at the Playpony Mansion, I knew it couldn’t be the one I knew since synths weren’t around back then,” I said.

“Ah yes, I forget sometimes that Lonely Heats lives in the New Pegasus area,” she said.

Commander Emerald spoke up, and said, “He should’ve been put down years ago if you ask me.”

“Why? He’s a good pony…well synth, but he’s helped us in the past and I like the guy,” Aura said.

“Because, he’s a failed experiment that shouldn’t have ever gotten out of this facility in the first place. He was scrapped, but somepony a long time ago saved the body and switched him back on tossing him into the world above. It took us years to even find him again and when we did, he was protected by New Pegasus,” she said, sounding angry.

I frowned, “I agree with Aura, he’s not hurting anypony, he should be left alone.”

“He’s the property of The Ministry,” Emerald said, getting to her hooves, “Got a problem with that little filly?”

I got back to my hooves and pulled Dream Walker out. “Yeah, because he’s not just some robot, he’s my friend and helps ponies. Nopony should ever be called anyone else’s property. Who cares if he’s a robot or not?”

“Both of you calm down please,” White Oak said, glaring at both of us in turn.

Emerald sat back down a moment before I did. “She sounds like those goody-two-shoe railroad ponies. I bet she’d fit in with them.”

Mom sighed, “Can we please get back to the topic at hoof? We don’t have much longer before we’re ready and we still need to explain a few things.”

“Good point,” White Oak said, looking back at us, “Putting everything else aside, you know why I’m here now and you should understand that I’ve done a lot to start helping ponies in The Wasteland, unlike any other Director before me. This is where you come in Shadow, over the past twelve years I’ve been trying to help your mother cure you. We did so ten years ago, but that led to our current problem, Aquila.”

‘About time,’ I thought to myself. “Yeah, about that, how do you plan on getting her out of me? From what I’ve learned, she’s bonded to my very soul now, removing her would kill me right?”

“Yes and no,” Mom said, “I can’t go over everything, but I can tell you that I have a way to get her out of you without hurting you in the process. This plan is why you needed to come out here.”

I took a moment to think about it, then something came to mind. “You’re putting her into…”

Mom stopped me, “Don’t even think about what I’m doing, this is already dangerous because Aquila could take that knowledge for herself at any time. The less you know the less she knows. When I’m ready to start this process, then you’ll know because she won’t have time to stop me. If everything goes the way it should, you’ll be free of her and more.”

I huffed. “I hate not knowing what’s going on and even more so because I still have a problem trusting you.”

“Duly noted Shadow, and I understand why, but your friends all know the plan and they know what I’m doing will work,” she said.

I looked over at Aura and Solstice who both nodded, Aura saying, “It’s crazy, but it should work.”

“I agree, I mean I don’t know how all of this works, but the plan itself is sound,” Solstice added.

“Very soon, I wanted you to have time to look around The Ministry and learn more about us before we undergo this procedure. As much as we’ve planned this out, it’s still possible something can go wrong,” White Oak said.

“What about after this is all over? What are you going to do with us? With Aquila?” I asked.

White Oak’s left ear twitched and she took a moment to answer, and when she did, I knew she was telling me a lie. “We’ll keep her locked away in a special chamber that can hold her until she fades again.”

“No, don’t lie to me, you’re going to kill her. I can see it in your eyes,” I said.

I shook my head. “She’s done monstrous things, but she’s only like that because of what she had to endure over the past two hundred years. She has goodness inside her. It’s small, but it’s there.”

I shrugged. “Maybe a little. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the bitch for everything she’s put me through, but I also know her better than any of you do. She’s a lying, manipulative, dangerous, and powerful creature, but she’s not as evil as you all think. She was created to do good in this world, but she was forced to do bad things once her mind was twisted by pain and suffering. If somepony just tries, they can get though to her and maybe instead of killing her, we can use her to do some good in Equestria.”

The entire room looked at me like I’d just said we should let The Enclave take over. For a long moment, no one said anything until Wind Thrasher said, “I think I see what she’s talking about, if I wasn’t given the chance to better myself, I’d be dead right now. My mind was twisted and controlled for many years and most ponies would’ve just put me down, but Shadow didn’t, she saved me,” she looked over at me, “You have a talent for finding the good in ponies Shadow, and maybe Aquila has something in her that’s good, and maybe if she was able to change she could help The Wasteland.”

“But even with that said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to let her live,” Wind Thrasher continued, throwing my hopes that she’d side with me right down the toilet, “One of the problems with how you view others, is that you don’t let yourself see them for what they are all the time. Most ponies can be saved I agree, and you know I hate killing creatures. However, Aquila is too powerful and dangerous for any of us to risk letting her live. She might’ve been created to save this world like you said, but she’s not that creature anymore. As soon as she gets the chance, she’ll kill you, me, and the rest of our friends.”

Everypony around the table nodded their heads slowly, even my uncle who was as dark as they come yet was managing to change himself. I frowned and looked at every single one of them before saying, “I know deep down that if we keep her contained and try to work with her, she will come around. Why can’t the rest of you see that?”

Mom sighed and said, “Because ponies like myself have looked into the research that went into creating her. She’s a force of nature that is an abomination, she has to be killed and that’s final Shadow.”

“She wasn’t created!” I yelled, “She was born somewhere else and pulled down here by Star Gazer. She’s a living creature just like the rest of us, I don’t like the idea of just saying she’s pure evil and killing her.”

Aura who was sitting to my left put a hoof on mine. “Shadow, we don’t have a choice, she has to die. I know you don’t like it, but that’s the way it has to be.”

Mom sighed and started to rub her temples. “Shadow, for all you know, that memory could’ve been fake. She’s already manipulated your mind in the past and it’s not hard for her to do it again. The longer she’s awake and the longer she’s left to merge herself with you, the better control she has over what you do, how you feel, and what you see.”

I knew I wasn’t going to win this. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to, I do hate Aquila, I know she’s a danger to myself and my friends, but something deep down was telling me that killing her was wrong. As I thought about it, my mind flashed with the sight of that monster zony from Moon Light’s memory crystal. Aquila was made of pure light magic, even if she was on the evil side, her magic was the opposite of his dark magic. What if we killed her and that monster got free from whatever prison he was trapped in. What if Falling Shadows was activated and it was the key to letting him go?

I looked back at White Oak, “Fine, if that’s your plan then so be it, but I have one stipulation. You let me find Falling Shadows and let me destroy it for good so nopony can use it.”

“I don’t think it is. I’ve seen a lot of memory orbs from The Children of the Night and one thing Night Stalker himself was worried about was that that project could actually let something worse than Aquila out. A creature that’s been locked away for twelve hundred years. I can’t risk letting it out, and I know that there are other ways to help The Wasteland, it doesn’t have to be a project made by any Ministry or The Children of the Night. At least let me find it and see what it really does before we just blindly activate something that could kill us all,” I said.

“Quiet!” White Oak said before looking back to me, “I’ll make this deal with you, I’ll let you find Falling Shadows. I’ll even give you all the things I’ve learned about it over the years and same for what Dr. Stormy and your mother have on it too. If you find that this project can help us, then I want you to let me know and we’ll activate it. If it’s what you think it is, then I’ll let you destroy the program for good or at least lock it down again. I think that’s a fair enough deal.”

She smiled and shook my hoof. “Good, now I think it’s about time to get everything started. Shadow, your friends have a room that will fit all of you. I want you to rest up for an hour or so while we finish up the preparations, go with them and we’ll see you soon.”

Solstice, Stardust, Wingnut, Wind Thrasher, Aura, and Byte all got up too, but Mom and Oricalcos stayed seated. I looked over at them, but my uncle just smiled. “We’ll see you in the lab soon, your mother and I want to make sure it’s ready.”

“Okay, I’ll…see you soon then,” I said, then followed my friends out of the meeting room.

The room was only a floor down from the meeting room and was as White Oak said, big enough for us all. There were three bedrooms with a couple beds in each, a nice sized living room with an offset kitchenette next to that. I made my way over to the couch and collapsed onto it. “Finally, a moment to relax.”

A moment later I felt Aura sit next to me and pull me close, letting me lay my head on her lap as the others took seats around us. She smiled down at me, then looked at the others. “So, since we have a little time, why don’t you three tell us what happened while we were stuck in here?”

I closed my eyes and smiled. “I woke up on a beach full of black sand and bones and ran from some Steel Rangers. Well, actually I hid, but it’s the same thing and found those two in a porn magazine house.”

Wind Thrasher blushed when I said the last part, but the others laughed. The sound made me feel like everything was going to be fine in the world. It was wonderful to be around my friends again. Once the laughter stopped, I let Wingnut and Byte tell the story about what happened when I finally found them again. I almost fell a sleep, but something was still making it hard for me to do so. So, I just relaxed and enjoyed my friend’s company. Half an hour later, food was brought to us by a synth and we all sat around the large dining room table and ate while Solstice told us stories about her time growing up in The Enclave.

“So, let me get this straight,” I said, looking over at Solstice who was sitting across from me, “You grew up in one of the richest neighborhoods in Stratus and yet you still joined the military?”

“Yeah, it’s tradition on my dad’s side of the family and most of my mothers too,” she said, eating some fancy looking salad, “And I’ve always been more of a violent kind of pony, so it was the right place for me. I graduated schooling when I was fourteen, joined the officer’s corps at sixteen and was in active duty a year after that. Spent the past year or so leading teams to the surface and was ready to rank up again when all of this crap happened.”

“I’ve always wanted to know why you really helped us Solstice, you started out as our enemy,” Stardust said.

She shrugged. “Seemed like the right thing to do once I had a talk with my mom. She told me to run after she heard that I was going to be marked as a possible traitor, this was before Nightshade took over though. I probably could go home now, but I’ve had a lot of fun being down here. Plus, I like you guys. You don’t get on my nerves like I thought you would. You still do, but not in the same way.”

The radio message I heard before came back to me and I felt my eyes going a little wide as I asked, “Solstice, your mother works in intelligence, right?”

“Do you have a way to get ahold of her? The reason is because I heard something disturbing on the radio yesterday that made it sound like my father might’ve been attacked or some other faction of The Enclave is trying to take over Stratus,” I said finishing my small meal.

“I have a communication device, but it was taken when I got here. I’ll have to see if the Director will let me use it. I need to make sure my mom is okay,” she said, getting to her hooves.

Wind Thrasher stopped her. “It won’t do any good right now; The Director is in the lab with Grim and they’re getting this thing ready for Shadow. You might have to wait till after it’s done. I know it’s hard, but there isn’t much we can do while we’re here.”

“But, if Stratus was attacked, and Nightshade was hurt or taken out of power, my parents might be at risk,” she said, looking scared and frantic.

“Because my parents have been working with your father for years now to take over Stratus and Nimbus. I only know this because my father told me as much a week or so ago when I talked to them last. I need to make sure they’re okay,” she said, heading to the door.

“No, you’ll stay here,” Aura said, “You’ve got to be ready for this,” she looked at the others, “Wind Thrasher, why don’t you and Stardust go with her to see if you can find out about contacting her parents. Byte and Wingnut, it’s time that you start doing what you have to for your side of the plan, we don’t have much time before they come for Shadow.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Wingnut said, getting to his hooves and heading for the door, “C’mon Byte, let’s go do our part.”

She followed as Stardust said, “Sounds good Aura, are you sure you won’t need us?”

“We’ll be fine, Oricalcos changed a few things up a few hours ago,” she said.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Aura said before walking over to her bags and putting them on, “I’m sure it’s about time to finish things with your little passenger. I’ll tell you the rest after that.”

The others walked out, leaving Aura alone with me. She waited for the door to fully close before she dropped her bags again and grinned. Confused I asked, “Aren’t we heading out?”

“We’ve got at least twenty more minutes before they come for you, maybe a little longer,” she said, moving closer, “I want to try something with this new body of mine and you’re the perfect test subject.”

I couldn’t help the stupid grin that came to my face as one of Aura’s wings wrapped around me while she led me to one of the rooms…

About twenty minutes later, I was scrambling to get my barding and duster back on, while at the same time trying to finish drying my mane after a frantic shower. Aura’s test as she called it proved to be something I desperately needed and was quite a lot of fun, at least for the small amount of time we had. We had just finished up what could’ve been a much longer bit of fun, when my mother’s voice along with Stormy’s came from the front door. The two of us scrambled to shower off the evidence of what we’d been doing, Aura giggling like a filly the whole time while my mother, Goddesses above, my fucking mother, knocked over and over asking if everything was okay and that she’d be coming in if we didn’t answer. I felt like a young foal trying to push her buckfriend out the window in the middle of the night after he snuck in for…well I’m sure anyone’s imagination could go on from there.

“I’ll be out in a minute!” I yelled, then slipped on the floor, got up again then bumped into Aura who also fell down while she tried to dry her mane.

Sadly, mom and Stormy had enough of waiting for us and they both came into the main room where Aura and I were both laying, tangled up in each other’s legs, wings, and towels. The two older mares looked at us both, then Stormy’s grin grew from ear to ear as she said, “So this is how silly I looked when I was a teenager. No wonder my mother was laughing so hard.”

Mom just rolled her eyes. “Really, you’d think the two of you would have more to worry about. Now get up and hurry up, we’re ready to start and we don’t have time for either of your foolishness.”

Blushing hard I finally managed to figure out which hooves were mine and which were Aura’s and got up. “Okay, and sorry about that.”

Mom just shook her head and turned away. “You’re too much like your father, I swear to the Goddesses.”

Aura laughed. “Now that’s a story I have to hear when I see Nightshade again.”

“Oh, Nightshade was quite a playpony when he was young, that’s why Grim didn’t like him much back in the day,” Stormy Said, then she winked at me saying quieter, “So was I, personally I say good job. If I was just a few years younger…but sadly there’s no time to reverse my aging right now.”

Ignoring Stormy mom said, “Aura, I need you to go to the lab and help Oricalcos with the last task. Shadow, get that barding off please, it will make what I have to do harder.”

“I still say you should bring a weapon or two though,” Aura said, “Never know what might happen.”

Mom just sighed. “We don’t have time to argue, so you carry her weapons, or bags, or both for her please.”

“No Problem,” she said, picking up my saddle bags then placing my barding and weapons that had been out into them, “I’ll see you in a few.”

Mom turned to look at me again, some of her frustration gone now. “Okay, first I want you to put this on,” she said giving me a horn ring that reminded me a lot of the one Squirrel and Moose had given me a few weeks back. “Once that’s on, I can tell you more about what we’re doing.”

I did and felt a stabbing pain in my horn, I winced and almost fell down. Then I noticed the feeling of Aquila’s presence vanish from my mind. “What the hell was that?”

“It’s a high ward mind blocker, it’ll keep what we’re saying away from Aquila for a few minutes. Just enough time for us to tell you what to expect,” she said, then looked over at Stormy, “She’ll explain.”

Stormy cleared her throat then said, “About a week ago, Aquila attacked your mother and friends at Frosty Summit. During this time, she had full use of your body. She came up with a plan herself to get full control of her own body. She gave Grim a set of instructions to follow and said if she didn’t do what she said, she’d kill everyone and make sure your life was nothing but pain and misery. She then gave her a rag with your blood on it.”

Mom cleared her throat. “Most of it yes, but that’s the problem with creatures like Aquila. They think if they threaten, then they’ll get what they want, not knowing that a pony like me is smarter than she is. I changed her plan a great deal and that’s why I haven’t been able to say much to you about what we’re doing. All of your friends know what happened and what I’ve done.”

“So, you’re gonna betray Aquila and risk her wrath!? And why did she give you my blood?” I asked, feeling anger build up inside of me.

Stormy answered, “First of all, yes and no. We’re doing what she wanted us to, just with a twist at the end that will make sure she can’t hurt anyone ever again. As for the second part, you’ll understand that when we get to the lab. For now, let’s just say that your DNA was needed to make some of this work. Now come along, it’s time to get this started.”

She turned to leave, but I didn’t move, instead I growled. “I don’t trust either of you, how do I know this isn’t just some bigger plan to get what you want from Falling Shadows? How do I know that you haven’t been lying to me this whole time about this?”

Mom sighed, then pulled me into a hug, not letting me get another word out. “Because, Aura and Vervain have made sure that if I lie to you or them, that my life will end. Their plan which I’m not allowed to know anything about, will make sure that nothing bad will happen to you. If you can’t fully trust me Shadow, then please trust them and your uncle.”

It took me a moment, but finally I said, “Fine, but please tell me this’ll work. If it doesn’t, she’ll kill all of us for doing this to her.”

Mom pulled away, then said, “Even if we do everything she asked, Aquila would still kill us. She’s evil and that’s what creatures like her do, they kill. Now are you ready to start this?”

Stormy started walking again and we followed. It took us a few minutes to go down the stairs across the main chamber of The Ministry and to the labs where they made synths. From there we found ourselves in a large lab and my eyes widened at what my mom and uncle, and possibly more had set up. The entire large room had been cleared out of any equipment that would’ve normally been in this place. Painted in expertly drawn red paint were magic circles, zebra glyphs, and other things I didn’t even know. The two biggest circles with the most complicated designs on them were right next to each other, and one of them had something standing in the middle of it, covered with a white sheet.

“Shadow go stand in the middle of the empty circle,” Mom said, walking over to the other one.

In answer mom pulled the sheet off and I almost fell from shock as I laid eyes on…myself…kind of. The blank faced mare was the same height as me, only with a silvery white coat and a jet-black mane, her half open eyes were the same shade of red as my own and her horn was sharper than most unicorns just like mine. Though she had no cutie mark and looked like a corpse standing up.

Stormy looked offended. “Heavens no! It’s the best gen three synth I’ve ever created. That’s why you’re DNA was needed, that way we could create a body as close to yours as possible. The only difference between this and you is the chip in its head. Right now, it’s not activated because the brain inside of it has no programming.”

“But the Synth looks so lifelike, and why is it opposite of my own coloring?” I asked.

To my surprise a shadow pulled away from the far wall and my uncle materialized at the edge of the magic circles. “That is how the DNA programming decided to make this synth. I’m guessing it’s because that is your normal coloring.”

He smiled back before mom said, “He’s right, though I’m not sure why your coloring changed since you were young. I’m guessing it’s in the memories of stuff I’ve forgotten.”

I remembered however, I’d seen the change from my own memories and from one of Mom’s orbs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of the ones I’d given to her when I left the underground bunker she’d set up her memories in. I nodded to her. “I’d forgotten, back when Aquila purified my body of that dark magic, it exploded out of me and my colors were changed. Though when Aquila takes over, my body reverts to looking like that.” I said, pointing at the synth me, which was still creepy to be honest.

“I figured as much,” Mom said before looking back at her brother, “Ori, when this process starts, you’re going to have to be in the observation room. The spell I’m going to cast is on the darker side of magic as you know. I’m not sure what’ll happen if you’re close.”

Stormy answered, “Your uncle is made up of shadow magic, which is a branch of dark magic. From what he’s told me, it takes a lot of his will power to keep his mind clear and in control of his power. With a spell as powerful as the one we’re about to use, there’s a good chance he’ll lose control and try to take the power for himself.”

Oricalcos cleared his throat, saying, “Also the black book that you had was written by the witchdoctor who trained the creature I pull my power from. He was a powerful and evil zony. With the close relationship I have to this darkness, it will be even harder for me to hold back my power from trying to take what I can.”

I felt a twinge of sadness hearing that. I knew that Oricalcos had a hard time keeping the speck of light he still had inside of him from going out for good. He’s been working hard to do better since he found out who I was, but still he had moments I’d seen myself where his wanting to help me conflicted with his dark side. Like when he tried to kill Stardust in Stable 97 even after he’d gotten his mind and memories back. He didn’t trust my friend and figured that killing him was safer than risking him attacking me. He’d done a lot of evil things himself over the years, and that was why I wanted to help him find the light again. So he could make up for what he’d done, like I knew he wanted to.

“I understand,” I said, “Just…be close enough that you can help if it’s needed okay?”

He smiled back at me again then nodded. “I’ve sworn to protect you Star and you have my word that I won’t let anything happen to you.” He hugged Mom, then melted into shadows again and vanished.

Mom had a sad look on her face before she took in a deep breath then looked over at me. “Okay Shadow, are you ready for this?”

“Wait where’s Aura? I thought she was going to be in here with me,” I asked, feeling my heart start to beat a little faster.

A hiss came over an intercom and I heard Aura’s voice, say, “I’m here watching from the observation room with White Oak and your uncle. I’m here for you, I just can’t be down there.”

That made me feel a little better, so I looked back to Mom then said, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Mom took in another deep breath, then said, “Okay, I want you to look right into the eyes of the synth. Once you have, and I start the spell, you can’t look away no matter what you feel or hear. Not until I say otherwise. This spell might and probably will hurt. I’m going to be ripping another creature’s soul out of you and placing it into the synth. Just be brave and this will be over as quickly as I can make it.”

I nodded then did as she said. Once I had, she walked over to the synth and placed a necklace around it, the necklace had a pendant with a zebra glyph on it. She then put something like it on the horn of the synth, then four bands around it’s legs. The last thing she did was connect them all with a glowing chain that she made with her horn. As she did this, I kept my eyes on the red ones across from me, taking in deep, easy, breaths, preparing for what would happen next.

Mom came over to me and placed a single choker around my neck, then cast a small spell on me that connected the horn ring to the choker. Once that was finished, she went back to the edge of the circle. I could just make her out as she pulled out the old leather-bound black book and opened it on the floor. She turned the pages until she was almost half-way through it, then said, “Okay Stormy, it’s time for you to leave too.”

“Are you sure that can hold her once she’s in the synth?” Stormy asked, sounding worried for the first time I’d ever heard from the short mare.

“The Spells on those are the strongest any zebra has ever made to hold a star spawn. It will work, trust me,” Mom said.

“Okay, Grim, I’ll be in the other room if you need anything,” she said, then I heard the door to the lab open, and then close.

Mom took in another deep breath, then said, “I’m starting now Shadow, prepare yourself.”

I took in another few breaths, then I heard her start to chant in a deep tone. The words had to be in ancient zebra from what I could tell. I’d heard Yaksha and Sheena speak Zebra before, and it was nothing like this. As she chanted, the lights in the room grew dim, and a slight breeze started to flow throughout the room. Then the magic circles around the lab started to glow with a sickly purple light. They all came to life one by one until the two glyphs the synth and I were standing on finally lit up. As soon as they did, pain like I’d never felt before in my life exploded into my body. It was like somepony was trying to pour molten lead into my very soul. To make matters worse, I heard her for the first time in weeks. The evil chuckling laugh of Aquila.

“Hahahahaha! It’s about time she did what I told her to. Oh Shadow Star, I can’t wait for you to see what I have planned for you now!” Aquila said as I felt every part of her presence flow into me.

I wanted to scream, but something about the spell was making it impossible for me to do. I couldn’t even move my eyes as I felt the power she really had all flow into every part of me. I’d known that Aquila was powerful and dangerous, but I had no idea how much, not until I felt everything. Her energy was flowing out of me and toward the body across from me.

“That’s right, you can feel what I’ve had all this time can’t you? I’ve never let you see or feel everything I have inside of me before. I’ve only let you have a taste, about thirty percent of it in the past. Now, watch as I show everypony how foolish they are for thinking they can beat me,” she said, laughing again.

My vision was starting to go black as she laughed then I felt my mind sink into a place I’d never been to before. In a matter of seconds the pain was gone and I was in a black void deep inside my mind, looking at a white filly with kind pinkish red eyes smiling up at me. In the distance I could just make out Aquila laughing still and taunting me, but it was like she couldn’t tell what happened.

The filly smiled. “It hasn’t been that long since we met Shadow. I’m the light side of Aquila.”

My eyes went wide as I looked at her. “I don’t understand, the last time I saw you, you were more my size. What happened?”

Her smile fell a little. “My darker half has been getting stronger over the past couple of weeks. She thinks I’m fully gone now, but I’ve been keeping myself hidden. My form you see now, is the small amount of light that’s left within us.”

“She’s killing you slowly isn’t she?” I asked, feeling sorry for this better half of my inner demon.

“She’s tried to yes, but you can never fully destroy the light within anypony. My other half thinks she can, but still I remain, and I will forever. No matter how evil she tries to be, we are still a product of light and goodness,” she said before sitting and saying, “I don’t have much time, your mothers spell will pull me out of you with my other half and I need to let you know a few things before I’m gone.”

I wasn’t sure if I could trust the small filly or not, but something deep inside me told me I should. So I sat too. “Okay, what do I need to know?”

She smiled again. “I want you to know that my other half knows what your mother is planning. You need to expect it not to work, there is more to us than you think, same for what your mother thinks she knows about what we are. So, when we are pulled into the new body, be prepared for anything.”

“Also, in a moment your going to get every memory back of what happened with your body while she was controlling it. When you do, you’ll understand more about what she’s been planning and who she’s been working with. She wanted to keep the memories from you forever, but I’m going to make sure you know everything. It’s the only way you’ll be able to save this land Shadow,” she said.

She nodded. “A stallion from The Enclave, a pony who should’ve died a long time ago. He’s been controlling The Enclave for two hundred years from the shadows.”

“No, Absent Moon, who you all know as Night Stalker, is still trapped in The Crystal Empire. Well his body is, his soul I believe moved on many years ago, same for the griffon he loved,” she replied.

“So, their bodies are still in The Crystal Empire? How do you even know that?” I asked.

She sighed sadly. “We knew because Absent Moon and Greta were powerful souls within this land. They shined bright and we could feel them even in our isolation. It’s probably because of the bond their two souls have, they’re eternally bound to each other and have been for twelve-hundred years.”

“Wait…What?” I asked, “You mean like that story I keep hearing about the two griffons or the pony and griffon who loved each other so much that they were bound to find each other in every new life?”

“The very same, Absent Moon’s soul was once the soul of Moon Light, the mare you saw in that memory crystal. Greta’s was the soul of Geoff her griffon life bond partner. I would tell you the story if I had the time, but sadly I can’t. The mare who knew the whole story was your distant grandmother Minuette. If you want the full story, you need to find her,” she said.

“In a way yes. We can still feel her lifeforce on this world, but it’s scattered and broken. We believe she is an Alicorn, but has no idea who she is, that was going to be the next thing I told you to do. You need to find Minuette, help her get her full memory back, and then she can help you take down Falling Shadows. She knows the project better than anypony,” she said.

I took in a deep breath, then said, “That’s a lot to take on, but I’ll try. So, if this other pony isn’t Night Stalker, then who is he?”

I felt my stomach turn as I heard that name. “That can’t be right, he was killed by Greta.”

“That’s the story yes, but he’s still alive and a ghoul. I don’t know how he survived, but he’s the one pulling the strings to what’s going on in The Enclave. You’ll need to take care of him to start taking down Falling Shadows and if you want to break the curse on your family. Do you understand me?” she asked.

I nodded. “I do, but I still don’t know what I can do. I’m not that strong.”

She got back to her hooves, and said, “You’re stronger than you think, let me show you.”

Confused I got up as well as she started walking deeper into the darkness. After a moment we came to a shimmering wall with bright white light behind it mixed with speckles of black flowing through the light. My jaw dropped open as I saw the ocean of what looked like power flowing behind the glittering wall. I looked down at her, asking, “What is that?”

“That Shadow, is the magical power I’ve been pulling away from you over the years and hiding from my darker half. She feeds off power like this and has been trying to keep you weak as she grows strong. Over the past three months, you’ve been tapping into this power as you’ve grown in your magical ability, but I’ve been trying to keep you from using too much so that my other half doesn’t find it. Once I’m gone, all of this will start flowing all at once into you. When it does, you’re going to start feeling a change in yourself. It’s my last parting gift to you.”

I looked at the sea of raw magic for a moment, then asked, “How much is that?”

She smiled a little. “More than your distant grandfather Dwarf Star or Minuette had combined.”

“No, that can’t be right, Twilight Sparkle and the Princesses were the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, and this looks like more power than what they would’ve had. Well maybe not the Princesses,” I said.

“The Princesses are a different case, they were Alicorns, Twilight on the other hoof was a gifted magic user and worked hard to get to where she was when she grew older. You were born with this magic, just like Moon Light was. Just be prepared for when it hits, you will have a hard time using magic for a while, while your body gets used to this power, but you’ll need it if you want to beat us,” she said, turning to look at me again.

“Sadly no, but I have faith that you’ll find a way to bring the light back to us. It is your special talent,” she said with a chuckle, then her body started to fade slowly.

“Wait, what did you meant my special talent? I don’t understand!?” I yelled.

With her last words she said, “You have to figure the rest out on your own, I can no longer help you. One’s true talent needs to be found by the self and not the rest. Be strong Shadow Star, and always remember to shine brighter than anypony has before!”

With that, she was gone and before I could even think about what she just told me, a flood of memories from when Aquila was using my body, slammed into me like a megaspell explosion. A moment after that, I was ripped away from the now cracking wall of power and thrust back into myself as Mom finished up her spell.

I started to scream as I fell back into my body and pain flowed through me. A white light was flowing from my body into the synth I was still staring at. I noticed that the dead look in its eyes were now starting to fill with the light of life. The body started to breath slowly and a Cutie Mark was starting to show up on it’s formerly blank flank. As the last of the light that was Aquila flew out of my body, a boom that shook the room echoed out of the body and Aquila took in her first breath of life.

For a moment I thought she was going to attack us all, but she didn’t. The rings mom put around her glowed brighter and she was stuck in place. Her eyes still locked on mine as the spell made sure she couldn’t do anything to me or the rest of us. Mom stopped chanting and said weakly, “You can move now…Shadow.”

I finally pulled my eyes away from Aquila’s and took in her Cutie Mark. I figured that since she wasn’t a real pony, that she wouldn’t have one, but I was wrong. Stamped on her flanks, I saw a Red flying Eagle circling around a crown of thorns. The eagle’s tail was longer than normal, almost like flames flowing behind it. The beak nearly touching the tip of the tail. The crown was a mix of black and red with a few drops of what looked like blood on the tips. I had no idea what it meant, but it couldn’t be good.

“Release me from this binding spell Grim, we had a deal!” Aquila said, her muzzle barely opening, but her eyes were looking at my mother.

I turned my head weakly and saw Mom was breathing hard and laying on the ground, her grey eyes looking over at us both. She looked like she aged ten years in the past few minutes. Her mane was completely grey now, whereas before she still had a few streaks of silver in it. She looked weak, like most of the life had been stolen from her with one spell. Even with all of that she still managed to smile.

“Aquila, I learned a long time ago, never to make a deal with a devil,” she said as she slowly got to her hooves, “I wasn’t going to let a star spawn like yourself free in Equestria, even the weaker versions of your kind cause enough havoc as it is. You’ll be trapped like that, until we can finally kill you.”

I tried to walk toward my mother, but as soon as my hoof left the floor I collapsed. My body felt weak and shaky, I tried to get back up, but I couldn’t. I looked over at Mom, saying weakly, “My body’s weak.”

She looked over at me and I saw something in her eyes for just a moment, almost like she had no idea who I was. The moment passed and she shook her head, saying, “That will pass Morning St…I mean Shadow, just give it a moment.”

I just laid there looking over at Aquila in her own body, then said, “How do you like being tricked for a change?”

Her eyes looked down at me, but instead of getting angry she smiled. “Feeling weak are you Shadow?”

“Oh bite me, you lost, get over it,” I said, starting to feel some energy coming back to me.

The door to the lab opened before Aquila could say more and Oricalcos, White Oak, Stormy, and Aura came running in. Aura came right over to me and helped me stand up. “You okay Shadow.”

“I’ll live, just help me get over to my mom and somepony please do something with Aquila. I think she’s still trying to pull one over on us,” I said as I got up.

My uncle started walking toward Aquila who just stood there with that smile planted on her face. “She can’t break free of those traps Star, it’s the strongest trap for a star spawn,” Oricalcos said as he walked by.

“I made it myself using stones that have been specially enchanted for creatures like her. Those can keep her held like that for years. Once we move her to the prison we made, she’ll have even more enchantments to keep her held down,” Mom said as she leaned against Stormy for support.

Aura just got me to the edge of the magic circles when an explosion of pain hit me, first in my head as that barrier the other Aquila told me about cracked and shattered flooding my mind and body with way too much power. Second, something was very wrong in my chest, it felt like somepony was jamming a dagger into my heart. My heart rate went up and every thump felt like it was trying to escape my chest. Just like it did in my memories of when I was a foal. My legs went out as I screamed, my vision going red. Every sound went silent apart from the ear-splitting sound coming from my muzzle. I tasted blood and smelled copper. I felt Aura trying to hold on to me as my legs kicked, as my world became nothing but pure agony.

Then, just as fast as it hit me, the pain was gone leaving me shivering and weak laying next to Aura and my uncle, the rest looking over at me with concern. Aura was stroking my mane with a hoof, saying, “Shadow, what’s wrong, talk to me.”

Mom walked toward me slowly and cast that spell I remembered from when I was young. A white light flowed over my body, then she said, “I don’t understand…her heart should’ve been fine after Aquila took away the darkness.”

Oricalcos whipped his head around to glare at Aquila who started laughing. “What did you do to her!?”

Aquila looked his way and winked. “Who me? Nothing at all, her heart is just damaged from years of being attacked by that spell you cast on her Oricalcos. Don’t go blaming me for what you did to her when she was little. When I was in her body, I used my power to keep her heart strong, but now that I’m no longer in her pathetic mind anymore, her heart can’t take the strain for much longer.”

“Oh, I’m not lying at all, I never lie. I might bend the truth now and then, but I’m always honest,” she said as her eyes locked onto mine, “You’ll be dead in a few days Shadow, let’s call it a parting gift from me to you.”

Stormy spoke up with a light chuckle to her voice. “A damaged heart is something that we can easily fix here, you’d be surprised how far our synth technology has grown over the past few decades.”

Aura and I both looked over at the small mare as Aura asked, “You can fix her?”

My uncle started to laugh as the look on Aquila’s face went from pleased to angry. “Looks like you’re all out of tricks now star spawn.”

Mom weakly came over to me and started casting spells over me. I was going to ask what she was doing then I felt some energy coming back to my body. My head kept on throbbing from the power I could still feel flowing into me from the vast pool the good half of Aquila had hidden away for so long, but I could deal with that.

When she was done Mom said, “Let’s get her moved to the prison, this monster can live out what’s left of her life chained up like a dog.”

“Come on Shadow, let’s go get you into bed so you can rest up. We have a few more things to take care of, then we can start figuring out how we’re getting home,” Aura said as she helped me up.

“Okay, I think I need a nap anyway, and I have some things to tell you and Oricalcos,” I said.

My uncle looked back at me smiling. “I’ll come help you then, unless I’m still needed by my sister.”

She waved him off. “You go, we’ll deal with her on our own. This binding spell is too powerful even for her.”

“Yes, and I’d like to have a few words with you as well Shadow,” White Oak said.

Whatever I was about to say was cut of by the insane evil laugh of Aquila. We all looked at her and a moment later she said, “I still find it funny that you all think this binding spell can hold something like me.”

“You can’t talk your way out of that Aquila, you’re trapped, now get used to it,” Mom said.

“Oh poor, poor, Grim. You’re still under the impression that I’m a star spawn aren’t you?” Aquila said. As she spoke, a large crack appeared in the middle of the talisman around her horn. “Let me educate you on what I really am. You see, the zebras like to classify all creatures created by the stars as star spawn.”

“That’s because that’s what they are,” Mom said, sounding bored, “I’ve studied your kind for many years.”

The grin on Aquila’s face got bigger as she said, “Sadly, the zebras never looked into the difference between what I am and a mostly mindless star spawn. All star spawns are just creatures created by dark stars to cause problems for the ponies and zebras here on Equus. Now a star born or also a child of the stars which is created by light magic stars like my creators were, are something else entirely.”

A surge of power exploded out of Aquila and the talismans around her body crumbled away into dust. She moved her new body’s neck, popping the joints as she made a sound of utter delight. Mom and the rest of us took a step back as what was happening hit home. Aquila opened her eyes and started to cast a spell on her own body.

“I thank you Grim for making this body for me, with some help of course. It will do perfectly for what I need it for, now I just need to make a few alterations. And before our very eyes, Aquila’s new body was enveloped in bright white and pink light. Her body started to grow, getting another head higher, her mane grew longer and started to flow behind her like it was caught in a gentle wind. Dots of twinkling white lights danced in her mane like stars. Her horn grew longer and curved a little. Her eyes became slitted like a dragon’s, and a small black ten-pointed start appeared just over her collar bone. When the light of the spell pulled away, she looked nothing like me anymore. Her coat was even whiter than what mine used to look like, lacking the silvery shine, and when she spoke her voice was richer.

“It feels wonderful to be myself for the first time in my life. Now it’s time for me to pay you all back for the misery you and your families have put me through,” she said with a regal smile on her face, “I am Aquila, daughter of the stars, and it’s time for me to cleanse this world of the stain of ponykind for good. I’m starting with you…Shadow.”

Mom and Stormy both tried to cast a spell at her, but she just blocked it with ease. Then she surrounded us all in a pink glow and in a flash of light, we were all teleported out of The Ministry…”

[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]

NEW PERK ADDED!

Mage Rank 1: Congrats on getting all that stored magic of yours back! Good for you! Upon attaining said magic, you’ve gained the ability to learn more spells and now you’ll be able to learn them with more ease than before, without supernatural entities getting in your way. Just be careful, and have fun!

Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 64: Uninvited Guest