//------------------------------//
// Malicious Benevolence  
// Story: To Glory 
// by Quantum Solace 
//------------------------------//

	I've never killed before
Well--maybe I have--sometime in the past--in my memories that I do not have at this time. As far as I am aware of, I have never killed a soul. I haven't had a need to, really. Everything took care of itself. No crime-deserving-death had ever reached my ears, so I haven't even been vaguely responsible for the end of another's life. I was innocent and pure to those ways.
At least, I thought I was.
My body remembered. My body had killed before. When I turned and faced the Solar Empire soldiers, my body took action.
Before the enemy could react, I enveloped my long rifle in a blue telekinetic sheath of magic, whipping it out, targeting a large stallion in the back of the group, seemingly the leader of the soldiers. My vision swam, filled with flashing lights, then it cleared an instant later. With only the slightest change, small glowing reticles targeting various guards now filled my vision. The large brute that I was aiming at had a retical of glowing red light on his face.
Before I was aware of what was happening, my magic squeezed the trigger.As if in slow motion, a glowing blur of orange light shot from the end of the weapon, lancing through the head of the leader. His brain torn from the rest of his body and painting his fellow soldiers red.
I had just killed a pony. My first kill that was certainly not to be my last. I hadn't even been shot at first. I had just seen him... and fired. I beheaded him in a single shot with a weapon that I had never used before.
What... was I becoming?
My mind reeled at what I had just done, but my body was prepared. Like a blue blaze, I rushed into battle. Firing with expert precision, I decapitated or fatally wounded my targets with every shot. My hooves were quickly becoming soiled with the blood of my enemies as I stomped upon bodies under my hooves. My horn was crackling and filling the air with the smell of ozone as I fired bolts of magic into the bodies of those around me.
My body had a mind of its own.
One soldier rushed at me with a glowing blade. I ducked low, letting the blade swing where me head had been. I angled my weapon up, and fired at his surprised face. I rolled to the side as his body fell to the ground, moving on to the next opponent.
An earth stallion rushed me, a glowing blade similar to the previous guard's blade was clenched in his jaw. Before I had time to move, he was upon me. I barely had time to raise my large rifle to parry the blow, which sent off blue sparks of arcane magic. I hardly noticed as I shoved the blade away, and kicked up with my hooves at his exposed neck. He crumbled to the ground, and I brought my hooves down on his ribs. An audible "crack" reached my ears over the sounds fighting happening in the large tunnel.
I had hardly risen from destroying my foe before a burst of pain sliced through my rear leg. I jumped back as another soldier leaped out of striking range, before rolling and charging at me with expert speed. Once again, I was forced to use my weapon as a sword, parrying the blow. I took a step back, and winced from the lancing pain in my hind leg. The cut, deep; the pain, intense. My brief moment of hesitation opened up another opening for the soldier, and this time I was unprepared. My blood spilled across the floor, and a new accompanying pain in my breasts proved that the blood was my own. I stumbled back as my vision became a red haze. Another slash, and a new pain matched the blood spilling from the side of my face.
I fell to the floor, adrenaline falling away to reveal that these weren't my first wounds. I could feel several cuts all over my body, red coating my fur and the floor. I could feel darkness eating away at the corner of my vision, threatening to engulf me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Judgment, horns aglow, beginning to fill the tunnel with bright streams of fire.
I tried to turn my gaze around me... and I found bodies, dozens of bodies. They were smoking and glowing from magical spells, stomped on by heavy hooves, or with largely sized holes through their chests. It took me a few moments to realize that I had killed these ponies. I had taken their lives; butchered them mercilessly, with utter disregard of they could have been friendly, or if they could have been saved.
How could I have done this!?
What.... was I becoming.
I suppose I would die then. It would probably be for the best. Ponies would stop debating over me. Maybe Chrysalis could get some mind of surrender agreement, or maybe I would by some kind of martyr? Glancing to my left, I saw Judgment beginning to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of guards. I supposed he wasn't escaping either. Oh well. There was something mysterious about him. He knew more about me than I did, and seemed all too comfortable around me. For some reason, I found this rather endearing, as well as disturbing.
As the darkness began to strengthen its grip around me, I found myself wishing I had grown to know the dragon better. He seemed so...something. Familiar. Friendly. Wise. Terrifying. I suppose if by some miracle I survived, I would want to find out more about him.
The last thing I was aware of before I lost consciousness, was the purr of an automatic weapon filling the hall with lead


---

"All the thoughts we have, all the decisions we make, are rooted in layers upon layers of experiences. To understand ourselves, we must look to our own past. To our memories.
I believe that our pasts and our hearts make us who we are. Our memories define us. But what if we should lose them? Would we become untethered? Adrift? Would we even be the same ponies anymore?
If you could block out your most horrible and hurtful memories, would you do so to spare yourself the pain? And if you did, would you lose an important part of yourself in the process?
And what of higher thought? Reasoning and rationality? If I were to forget the discoveries that led to a realization, would I be able to grasp that revelation anymore? Could I piece together the logic of an argument if I could not remember having the argument?
How important are memories to our ability to even think? Or, at least, think clearly?
And what about the reverse? What if you added memories which were not your own? How often could you live parts of other ponies' lives, making their decisions, seeing the events that brought them joy or sorrow, before the boundaries that separated you from them began to blur?"
-Kkat; Excerpted from: Fallout: Equestria


---


When I awoke, I was staring at a slow fan pin-wheeling overhead. I attempted to sit up, only to have strong hooves press me back down.
"Sit."  said a mare's voice, touched with an accent, "You've taken quite a beating Princess Luna. Take it slow."
"Where is Judgment?" I demanded immediately. Even if he was covered in fur (and increasingly annoying), a friendly dragon-tank was something that would make me feel ever so slightly safer.
"Here princess." Came the deep voice of my draconic companion. I breathed a slight sigh of relief, then tensed.
"Where are all the guards?" I questioned.
My answer came from the mysterious mare's voice, "Down in the docking bay. I was able to get you out before reinforcements arrived, so I'm guessing they're still looking for you down there."
I sat up, and this time, no hooves shoved me down. I was covered in white bandages that I had not been aware of beforehand. Moving was painful, but bearable. I glanced around to find the mare who had been answering my questions.
There sat a gray mare, wearing a black suit with a matching black fedora, and a purple band around it, matching her eyes. On her flank was a mark that I was quickly able to place as a bass treble clef. Familiarity struck me hard, and yet... it was just on the outskirts of my plane of memory, one I could not seize.
“Why are you here?” came the cold deep voice of my draconic companion, “And how did you get in? One doesn’t just waltz into a top-secret-high-security prison.” His eyes narrowed into slots. His distrustful gaze was met by the cool purple ones belonging to the gray mare.
“No,” she said, “One does not simply ‘Waltz,’ in, but I’ll think you’ll find that being smuggled in is not at all difficult.” I once again thought back to our voyage to the fortress.
The containers of food and weapons supply.
“You hid in the crates?” I asked.
“How else?” the mare questioned. “It’s not like it’s easy to simply commandeer a ship of highly trained elite Solar Empire guards.” I chuckled until Judgment shot me with a cold gaze.
“Why did you come here?’ Judgment demanded. “One does not simply waltz-” the mare cleared her throat. “Smuggle,” he corrected himself, “Themselves into a high gauge security prison for no reason.”
I must admit, this was also a curiosity shared by myself. For once, the huge fur ball was asking some decent questions.The gray coated pony looked uncomfortable.
“It...is not a question worth answering.” she said, “I was just looking for somepony-- and I was incorrect, she was not here.” Judgment narrowed his eyes distrustfully, still not done with the interrogation. Out of the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw a shimmering shape, but when I turned to look, there was nothing there.
“How long have you been around here?” he asked slowly. The mare visibly paled. For a minute, I thought I heard a slight beeping sound, but I was distracted by the mares response.
“Only...only for a short time." The mare said all too quickly. Judgment looked suspicious, and the mare forced on a brave face. I found it surprising that the mare was attempting to lie as to how long she had remained within the prison. It did not seem as if it was something majorly important lie about. So why do so, and potentially make a very big dragon very very very mad.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of blips and beeps. I whipped around, knowing that this was not in my imagination, I examined the part of the room that was beyond my vision. A single empty chair sat before over a dozen monitors. Suddenly,  they all flickered into life, mostly displaying panicked ponies in golden armor rushing about various halls. However, one stood out. A single monitor displayed several heavily armed guards. They hid behind a barricade, with missiles and guns aimed at what appeared to be an enormous safe. It seemed like a delicious amount of overkill to me.
The mare and Judgment come over and watched the monitors in awe. “This must be the wardens office.” the furred dragon grumbled. The gray mare trotted and pointed at the huge safe. “That’s the entrance to the inner sanctum.” she said in her odd accent.
“And that,” Judgement, used his tail to point to another monitor, “Would be our target.”
At first, I thought it was a faulty monitor; it was nearly completely black. That is, until something equally black moved. It was a tall shape, wrapped in the darkness. I could barely make out an odd twisted horn that looked vaguely familiar somehow. Then the eyes. A pair of bright green slitted eyes turned to peer into the monitor, almost as if they were staring directly through the monitor at me. They were judging, brooding, mesmerizing eyes. I found myself falling into the deep, dark, mysterious gaze and-- the monitor suddenly turned to static. I glanced back at the mare and judgment, curious on what they thought of the... thing...
But they were staring at a different  monitor. Judgment looked very worried, and the gray mare was turning white, a look of horror plastered on her face. I turned my eyes back to the monitor, searching for what had disturbed them so.
I found it.
A large, white, winged unicorn stood tall, speaking to another frantic guard. Her multi-colored mane flowed and waved, regardless of the fact that there was no wind inside the building. On her flank was a large golden sun. My sister was here.
I trembled as I looked on. A flashing button labelled “audio,” called to me. Against my better judgment, pressed touched the button with a hoof. Sound blared from unseen speakers. Guards were yelling, officers giving orders, but one stood out to me. One I could never forget.
“Do not underestimate him.” spoke the Solar Goddess. “He has already undone hundreds of magical enchantments I placed upon him. We take no chances this time: he dies today.”
“But princess!” the guard cried, “What you plan... it’s disastrous! Hundreds will die! Your plan-”
“It is for the good of Equestria!” she thundered, “If Nox is allowed to escape, it would mean the beginning of the end, and The Republic will have regained their Ordinance. We will have no more defences if they launch a full scale invasion. Equestria will be lost if he is to escape! Is that what you wish?! To be the warden who allowed Equestria’s most important prisoner to go free?”
The Guard looked away. “N-no princess. I will do as you have ordered.”
“Good.” she said, “Make sure to escape yourself before the bl-” She suddenly stopped, her ears twitching.
“Princess?” the guard asked nervously, “Is something wrong?” Celestia ignored him. She turned to face the camera. My coat stood on end as she gave one of her creepy smiles.
“Hello little sister.” she said, “Having fun are you?”