//------------------------------//
// Chapter V: Z3sty 
// Story: The Sons of Discord 
// by Gapeagle 
//------------------------------//

A week went by from when I killed Curt...whatever his name was. Things had started to settle down even though we kept working hard against the Ahuizotl Templar. My trips to the island of Manehatten lessened and we kept to our vicinity. Night and day we studied the Templar patterns and intercepted their business transactions, communications, and general deployments of Hunter Squads.

Because of my interest in the shard we acquired, I was in charge of taking care of it. I placed it on my desk in my room where I was allowed to sleep. Still being new and all, I did not have that much in it. I was never a clean person neither, so it appeared like the result of a tornado wrestling an earthquake. Clothes were never put up, pizza boxes and beer bottles lined up the walls and corners. My laptop was almost buried under trash. The only open spot was my bed, because well, I slept there.

As the days went by, the little headquarters became a little cozy and homely for me. It was never warm and we refused to install actual lights, but it was just a place to stay. I did not know why I liked it. I guess because it wasn't an Ahuizotl room or any place with an Animus. Yeah, that was probably the reason. 

I drew closest to Scoots before the other two. She was by far the friendliest of all three. Even though she was 518 years old, or was it 517? Well, anyway, she looked younger than me. If anyone saw her, they'd think she was seventeen and just a punk teenager. I could only guess that her looks were kept because of her being a Survivor of Chaos. Discord's influence kept her as young as when she became a Survivor. That would explain why Vinyl and Neon looked older than me. I knew Octavia and Vinyl were in their early to mid-thirties when the former started to write about her adventures. Being a Survivor just kept you at the same body age.

"Ya know, Scoots, according to Octavia's writing, you were friends with two other girls. I think one was Rarity's younger sister and one was Applejack's lil' sister, right?" I asked her one day.

Scoots, who was sprawled upside down on a couch glanced at me with wide eyes, as if startled by the question. She rolled off the couch to right herself and sat on the couch's arm with a shrug. "Yeah," she uttered.

"Well, did they become Survivors like you?" I asked nicely.

"Yup."

"Cool. Where are they stationed?"

"They aren't," Scoots muttered. 

The curtness made me blink. "Then where are the-"

"They're dead."

"Oh..."

"About 130 years ago, we were southwest of Appleloosa. Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and I were assisting the Buffalo Tribes. It was the last tribe of them and Appleloosans were coming in for the kill. You may know not this, but Buffalo people had Discord as one of their gods. They liked Chaos, jus' like us. Discord liked them and wanted us to save them. 

"Out in that badlands, we fought the Equestrians for like, two weeks straight. I had to have taken out like, thirty to forty guys. We were holdin' up fine until some Templar showed up to support the Appleloosans.

"Sweetie Belle was a shard user. She wielded Patience. It was a time-manipulating shard. Apple Bloom was an engineer. She was never that good at fighting. The Templar had...much more powerful soldiers. One of them could control green fire. A man with green hair and yeah. But it wasn't him who got us, it was...I don't know what it was."

"Huh?" I interrupted, but allowed her to continue.

"During one battle, it was all gettin' nowhere. We fired out guns at each other and no one could aim worth a damn. That's was when I saw it. It was like a pile of crows that was in the shape of a person. Everyone on both sides was scared of it. Well, the Buffalo chief thought it was the Spirit of Death. Certainly seemed like that. 

"This thing came after the three of us, not even going for the Buffalo people. The crows left and there was a shadow of a woman and she was wielding a sword. Gutted Apple Bloom before she even had a chance to react. Sweetie put up some fight, but was killed easily. I faced her down, but my blades never hit her. She gutted me too and then left me to die on the dirt and sand. The Buffalo peoples were completely wiped out after that. I was brought back to Appleloosa and they wanted to hang me for treason against Equestria. Vinyl busted me out of the sheriff's cell and well, I got better.

"We may live forever, Akay, but we Survivors can die just like anyone else. I've always considered myself lucky for surviving all the wars and stuff, but I can't forget those who didn't."

"I'm sorry..." I said as it was the only thing I thought I could say.

She dismissed this with a hand. "No need to be. It happened a long time ago, even for me. They rest in Chaos and well, it happens. All of us have lost friends. Vinyl lost Octavia, Neon's lost his whole crew and the pirate captains, and I lost my two friends. But we all do it for Change and Chaos. Wouldn't have it any other way."

The tale was haunting. Such powerful beings were on the Templar side? A person that powerful could not have been a normal shard user. There was no doubt in my mind that the "Spirit of Death," was a Bearer. According to Octavia, there were four Bearers out there since the Bearers of Harmony were all gone. One of those Bearers was Discord and one I had never heard of. That only left two possible answers. Could the Two Sisters, Luna and Celestia, be with the Templar? I shuddered at the thought.





"Hey, Akay, could ya get in here?"

I stretched upon hearing Vinyl's calling. "What ya want?"

"I think we got a new mission. C'mon in the control room."

I stretched for a little longer and followed Vinyl through the hallways. It was mid-afternoon and I had been interrupted in my nap. With the constant late nights and inconsistent schedules, my sleep hours were short and long in between. I had gotten into the routine of napping around two o'clock just to gain some more rest. My companions didn't mind me napping, and never disturbed me until today.

She led me to the control room where Neon and Scoots were sitting in front of a monitor. The computer screen was a young girl with bright green hair and equally green eyes. She was also in a purple school uniform. Absolutely the last kind of person I thought to see communicating with the likes of us. Her eyes shifted in the low frame rate and she waved. Her cute little face bright and happy in the poor quality of her computer camera.

"Is this our new recruit?" she asked in a gruff, but also mischievous voice.

"Yup," Vinyl answered. "This is Akay. Akay, this is Lemon Zest."

I waved at the webcam with boredom. "Hi."

"Lemon here is in Canterlot. She's got somethi-"

"You can't jus' stop intros like that," Lemon interrupted Vinyl. "Hey Akay! Now, I know what ya thinking. Why is this girl with the Sons? Well, don't worry, I'm..."

"A Survivor and 500 years old? I'm used to it," I shrugged.

"No, silly! I'm not a Survivor at all! And I'm actually young. I turn eighteen next month!" she giggled.

"Shouldn't ya be in school then?" I chuckled. I was not buying her at all.

"Puh-lease!" she rolled her eyes. "I used to take classes in the Crystal Republic. Dropped out of that a year ago. Best choice ever. Now don't judge too quick. I'm an electronic musician and DJ, just like Vinyl. I've been owning this lifestyle! They call me Z3sty!"

She made a "3" symbol with her finger to show me the proper spelling. Now, I was not one to ever like a dropout. I was a graduate from Vanhoover University with a master's degree in archaeology. Yeah, I was called a nerd and dork for that, but I got the jobs and money. Well, until I went on my own way and becoming a sort of adventurer. So hearing say this with such ease made me slightly sick, but I tried to not care. I was still not a dropout. That meant I was still better than her. Right? Yup, I thought so.

"So 'Z3sty,' what's the deal in Canterlot?" I asked.

"Alright! Here's what's up," she started excitedly; "I've been snooping around the Ahuizotl branch that's here. These past few days, I've been seeing more and more Templars. So have the other guys as well. I me like, it's totally obvious. They got the guns, the men, and those walkie-talkie things that no one under forty uses. You know what I'm tlaking about, right? Right?"

"We get it," Vinyl said. "Now get to the point."

"Oh! Well, Lily found out that the Templar have this box thing. It's completely protected, like some bank safe. I have like, no idea what's inside. Like seriously, there's nothing for me to guess about. At. All. Anyway, they have it locked up in their tower here. I tried hacking into the systems, but it's so tough! Ya would've thought the Equestrian president lived in there or something. I'm calling you guys because, you're besties of course, but also because I need your help. The Templar have made this branch unhackable. Like not at all, don't even try it. Trust me, I know this. I spent all day walking around the tower. I even got a parking ticket because of it. Damn tickets..."

"You're a pretty good hacker, Lemon," Scoots remarked. "Are ya sure we can help?"

"Don't be like that, Scoots," Lemon Zest huffed and made a pout. "I would really, really appreciate you coming to help. I could even get ya guys donuts. I mean, not for me of course, those thing are bad for my shape. You guys don't have to worry about that though."

"Are ya calling us fat?" Neon seemed offended.

"Come on, Neo, you should've lost that beer gut ages ago," Lemon said casually. "Chicks don't dig the beer gut. I mean like, never have never will. Well, unless the chick's into some round bellies."

"I bet I could find some lasses who do. Besides, my gut is pretty good. Heh, especially for my age."

"Shut up you two," Vinyl said before looking at the screen. "Lemon, I'm not sure if we can help ya jus' yet. If it's as tough as ya say, we'll need bigger guns."

"I understand. I think this'll be just great!" the girl clapped her hands cheerfully. "Yay! Love ya guys! Well, I'll see ya later cause I gotta prepare to rock this club tonight. Uh, Chaos is Eternal and shit! Woo! Canterlot is gonna have a partyyyyy~!"

She cut the connection before she ended her high-pitched note. I was left there blinking in confusion. This was really our ally in Canterlot? She seemed like one of those girls who took selfies all day. She was fighting for Chaos? I concluded that she most likely had a pretty sick sense of humor. 

"So what's the plan?" Scoots asked Vinyl.

"Simple, we need backup. Whatever Ahuiztol is guarding, it belongs in our hands. We need every person we can get. And by that, I mean we get the best of the best."

"What hacker is better than us?" I asked.

Vinyl placed a hand on my shoulder and a grin stretched on her face. "We don't need a hacker, Akay. We need a cracker."

"A cracker? Isn't that a derogatory term?" I was undoubtedly confused.

"Not that kind, you idiot!" Vinyl growled and her smile disappeared, only to resurface again. "No, a computer cracker. The ones who make hacking possible. We may be hackers, but we didn't make the equipment and programs to hack with. Someone much more skilled than us did that."

I was still confused. "Where are we gonna find one of those?"

"Don't worry. I got in mind a cracker that started in the Erebus faction. She crossed over to the Sons about two years ago. She'll be perfect for this."

"And where is she at?"

Vinyl laughed with her red eyes. "The Baltimare Bay Penitentiary."


~.~