More than just weapons

by clearshot01


Chapter 1

Panda walked through ponyville casually. She had a white mane and tail along with her black coat. Sadly she still had some of the scars of the tests they did to her. She was a pegasus who never knew her parents or had any friends.

As she made her way through ponyville some ponies began giving her strange looks. She was used to it since she was what you would call, a "Blank flank". A pony who didn't get their cutie marks when they should've.

As she walked memories of the facility came back. She knew she would've made a scene so she flew to the nearest cloud her head pounding. She curled up on the cloud into a fetal position. She quietly whimpered to herself as the memories came flooding in.
She hated this. The memories, the friends she once had being slaughtered in some kind of arena, and having to do so a few times. Her body twitched where the needles pricked her flesh and the searing pain of whatever they had in those needles surged through her body.

It took a good half hour for those memories to go away. She sat up on the cloud wiping away the tears sniffling a little. She took in a deep breath as she regained her composure. She looked down from the cloud wondering if there was anything worth seeing happening.

"HI"

Panda jumped suddenly at what she just heard. She turned to see a pink pony standing on the cloud with her. "How the buck can you do that?" She asked in surprise.

"Do what?" The Pink Pony asked innocently. "OH! You must be new, because I've never seen you before, and I know everypony in Ponyville, like my best friends, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rising Knight, Spike, Roseluck-"

Wait Rising Knight?! How do you know him?!" She asked frantically trying to get answers.

"Oh, I've known Knighty since he was a little colt, ever since I first moved here. He didn't talk much, he was always hiding behind his sister, Gold Shield. Now he's more social, and his new sister Hollow Armour helps make sure he spends time with us all." She said, still smiling.

"So... you think you could help me meet him?" Panda asked hopefully.

"SURE! I'll set up the PARTY!" She yelled, before disappearing so fast she left a smoky afterimage of herself behind.

She just sat there confused but a little relieved. She was finally going to meet the one who saved her. She was hoping that he would have answers for her.

"OH! One more thing!"

Panda looked up to see the same pony in front of her.

"Knighty doesn't like talking that much. Even when he's with us he can be a real frownie mcFrownerson. And that makes me frown, but then I found a cupcake recipe in the attic..." Panda tuned her out as she droned on and on and on. “...And that’s how Equestria was made!”

“Wait, what? Actually, nevermind.” Panda was wondering mainly about the party then it came to her. "When is the party?" She asked.

"Oh, one hour. Sugarcube Corner. Don't be late, Pinkie Promise?"

"Uhhh.... yeah sure." Panda said with a little bit of confusion.

"Ok, what you do is cross your chest and say 'Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye' and you put a hoof right up to your eye." she said, giggling as Panda poked herself in eye. "Ok, remember, Sugarcube Corner, one hour, don't be late!" She yelled as she disappeared again.

Panda let out a sigh as she flew off the cloud and onto the ground. She then began to walk around town looking for this "Sugarcube Corner".

"Ouch. That smarts." A female voice said as she bumped into somepony.

Panda looked at who she ended up bumping into. When she looked up she saw that it was a changeling! She ended up seeing a few of changelings in the facility and sadly saw some of them kill or be killed. What she wanted to do was just fly away as fast and far she could. But instead she asked a question with a hint of fear in her voice.

"W-who are y-y-you?" Panda asked with a little bit of fear. After all she did have to fight one amongst the few ponies she did have to fight.

The changeling looked at her with a her head tilted in confusion, before the realization flashed across her face. "You've...met changelings before, haven't you?" She asked. Panda simply nodded.

"Wait..." The changeling muttered, looking Panda over, before her face contorted in shock. "The facility...you were there...but..."

"Yes I was...there." Panda said. "I'm among the few that survived it when it collapsed."

"So, it did collapse...Gold really went overboard with that spell. Anyway, I'm Hollow Armour, but everypony just calls me Hollow." She said, extending a hole-ridden hoof towards Panda with a small smile.

"So...what brings you here? Please tell me you're not here to find information on One..." she said.

"No I'm not looking for one....I'm looking for somepony named Rising Knight. You know him?" She asked bringing her hoof back on the ground.

"Oh....I know Knight. He's my brother." she said.

Panda brought her hoof to her face, mentally berating herself for not recognising the name Pinkie had given her when she mentioned Knight's sister.

"Ugh...Hollow Armour. I remember now. Pinkie told me your name when she talked about Gold Shield and his 'new sister'. So where is Gold Shield anyway? Is she alright?" Panda asked curiously. It was then that Hollow's face changed to sorrow, a change which she hid well, but Panda still noticed.

"No...she's not. You know the explosion, the one that caused the facility to fall?" Hollow asked almost silently.

Panda nodded, realization and pain etching themselves across her face as a vivid memory came back. "She caused it with a spell....and it was a spell that would kill the caster causing an explosion." Hollow explained shakily. Panda had seen Gold Shield when it happened, but forgotten about it. It was just a blur, but the poor unicorn look to be around her own age.

"Yes...Knight was caught in the explosion and knocked out. I dragged him out of that place to Ponyville, even though the remaining members of the Hive threatened to cast me out for doing it. In other words, I'm scum to them. Even if I found my way back, I'd be killed on sight. But I don't need the Hive. Knight gave me a new home, and a new family." Hollow said with a small tear in the corner of her eye.

Panda was thinking of what to do. So she did what came to mind. She placed one of her forehooves on Hollows shoulder hoping it would help somehow. Hollow looked to her, a little surprised, before wiping the tear away, and putting on a smile again. "Thank. So...you're here to find Knight, right?"

"Yes I am. Pinkie told me that I could find him at this party going on in suger cube corner. You ok now?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. And Pinkie's throwing a party already? Damn that mare works fast." Hollow said with a small chuckle. "Anyway, right now, Knight's in the forest training. He's been preparing to go after One. You remember him, don't you?"

"Yes I remember him. He gladly joined the facility as a test subject to get money, power, and anything they could offer. He makes me sick. It's a shame he might still be alive." Panda said putting her hoof back on the ground.

"Not might be, is. I saw him escape with the one in charge before the explosion. I would've gone after him, but if I had, then Knight would..." She trailed off, the outcome not needing to be said. They both knew what would have happened.

"I see what you mean. So you know where I could find Sugarcube Corner?" Panda asked. She wanted to see Knight even more now.

"Oh, it's right over there." She said pointing at a building that looked like it was made of candy. Panda's mouth started watering the moment she laid eyes on it. "Oh, I never asked your name, by the way." Hollow said sheepishly.

"Oh my names panda." She said shaking her head a bit to come back to reality. "So when is the party anyways?" She asked.

"Well, we've been here talking for fifteen minutes. How long did Pinkie say it would be before it was ready?"

"An hour so we got 45 minutes." Panda replied.

"Well, if you want, I could take you to meet our other friends. Knight's known most of them since he was a colt. The only new friend he has is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's student, and niece-in-law after the royal wedding." Hollow said.

"Well that would be nice to meet them all." Panda said with a smile.

"Cool. The Golden Oaks Library is closest. That's where Twilight lives. Oh, one question, are you afraid of dragons?"

Panda shook her head. "No I'm not....why you ask?"

"You'll see." Hollow said as she grabbed Panda's hoof and led her to a huge tree with windows, a door, and even a balcony, in the center of Ponyville. "Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library." She said as she knocked on the door.

Panda was wondering who she was gonna meet. That answer came quickly. "IT'S A PUBLIC LIBRARY Y'KNOW!" A voice shouted from inside.

"It's also your home, Spike. And Twilight's. Is she in? There's somepony who wants to meet her!" Hollow said from our side. The door opened and standing there was a young dragon not even at teenage age yet standing in the doorway looking up at panda.

"Uhh, Hollow, who's this? She the pony that wants to meet Twilight? Lemme guess, you want a spell that can make you as fast as Rainbow Dash?" He said, rolling his eyes.

"SPIKE! DON'T BE RUDE!" A second, female voice yelled from upstairs

Coming down the stairs was a unicorn mare. She had a lavender coat with a black mane with purple streaks going through it. She stopped in front of the library where the dragon named spike was.

"Oh, hello Hollow. Here to pick up another combat magic book?" She asked, before turning her attention to Panda. "And who's this?"

"Name's Panda, and I presume your name is Twilight Sparkles?" Panda asked extending her hoof.

"Sparkle, and yes, that's me." She corrected. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just looking for somepony mainly and right now I guess i'm meeting new ponies." Panda said with a smile.

"Oh, and who might you be looking for?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Rising Knight." Panda said. "You know him?" She asked Twilight.

"Oh yes, I know my cousin." She said, oblivious to Hollow's facehoof.

"Oh, well ok. So Pinkie mentioned a party in Sugarcube Corner soon and you think knight will be there?" Panda asked. "Because I have some questions for him."

"Oh, he'll be there. Knight's not once missed a Pinkie Party since he came back. And maybe Princess Luna will come too." Twilight said with a smile.

"Ok well that's good to know." Panda said wondering what their next move was gonna be.

"So, Twilight, any ideas where Rainbow is?" Hollow asked. "I'm taking Panda to meet everypony and Rainbow is next on my list? So, she practicing or napping?"

"Take a wild guess." Spike said sarcastically.

Panda looked in the sky and saw a cyan colored pegasus with rainbow tail and mane making her way to where they were.

"Uhhh, Panda...You may wanna TAKE COVER!" Spike yelled as he dashed away from the door and hid under the table, while Hollow grabbed her at the last minute and shoved her out of the way.

The pegasus that was flying ended up flying through the air and ended up going right into the house. Followed by a loud crash.

"She ok?" Panda asked with a hint of worry.

"She'll be fine." Hollow said. Twilight started to shout, most likely at the Rainbow maned pegasus. "I think we should meet Dashie later, don't you?"

"Yeah.....who else should we meet?" Panda asked.

"Oh, we could go meet Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres. Just be careful of her little sister Applebloom. She usually hangs out with Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister, and Scootaloo, Rainbow's biggest fan. They spend most of their time trying to get their..cutie...marks." Hollow trailed off as she finally took notice of Panda's flank, before she facehoofed.

"Yeah.... I don't have a cutie mark either." Panda said with no emotion.

"I'm sorry. Don't worry about it though. You don't need a cutie mark to be special. You just need to be who you are, and you don't need a cutie mark for that." Hollow said, trying to cheer her up.

Panda just nodded with a small smile. "Yeah you're right. So how long we got till the party?" Panda asked.

"About 30 minutes." Hollow said as the two kept walking, eventually coming up to a massive farm covered in apple trees. "Anyway, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Home to the Apple family, and more specifically, Applejack, co-owner and close personal friend of myself and Knight."

"Wow.... they harvest all these apples?" Panda asked.

"Eeyup. Anyway, Applejack's the most honest pony there is, she never lies. And even when she does, she sucks at it." Hollow said with a snicker.

"Heh yeah I be-" Panda was cut off with the sudden memories again. This time they were worst than before. All of them involving pain and misery of just her. She couldn't control herself when she suddenly fell to the ground her limbs twitching along with her wings. Pain surged through her as she couldn't control the whimpering and sudden crying.

"PANDA! Panda, are you ok!?" Hollow exclaimed fearfully. "Dammit. Hang on Panda, I'm gonna get you to AJ's house." She said, placing Panda on her back as she ran towards a small house near the entrance.

Panda kept whimpering the memories getting worst. The pain getting more unbearable. She could feel a pain unlike no other going through her wings being remembered that they were almost cut clean off. The constant stabs of needles and punches she received to the face and her body. She almost fainted tears streaming down her face.
"Panda, please hang on." Hollow said. "AJ! AJ GET YOUR FLANK OUT HERE! WE NEED HELP!"

Panda then jolted from remembering the pain of being stabbed in her jaw. The scar being hidden on her right cheek. She let out a scream of pain as she fell off the back of hollow and onto the dirt ground.

"Panda!" Hollow exclaimed, desperately trying to think of some way to help her. "Dammit. Panda, please forgive me." She said, before she started to drain the pain from Panda. Her body threatened to collapse, but she kept going until she couldn't bear it any longer, hitting the ground next to her with a thud.

Panda then opened her eyes the pain suddenly gone. When she looked to her right her eyes went wide. "Hollow what did you do?!" Panda exclaimed crawling to hollow. Hollow was in severe pain by the looks of it. Panda just did what she could think at this moment. She took hollow in her forelegs hugging her trying to help her with the pain.

"I...took your pain...as my own...it was the...only thing...I could...think of...I'm sorry..." She said, as she lost consciousness, unable to stay awake through the pain any longer.

Panda then heard a noise behind her. The sounds of breaking twigs. "HOLLOW!?" A voice yelled as a shadow-obscured figure dashed towards them.