//------------------------------//
// [Fo:E - Solar Shield] Part: 1 V.1 
// Story: Chapter: 13 
// by Chapter 13 
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Fo:E - Solar Shield V.1


By: Michael A.




“The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.”


It all happened so fast. I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like I had awoken from a long, dreamless sleep, only to awaken to another dream. I couldn't feel anything. To be honest, I felt like I was nothing. My mind was sluggish and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything at all, not even why I was cold in the first place. Was I even cold? I didn't feel warm, but I also didn't feel cold. I tried to get my bearings, commanding my muscles to move… then realized I couldn't feel my body! I began to panic—confusion and fear filling my brain. I couldn't see, I couldn't feel; none of my senses responded. I felt… empty, like I was just mind inside a hollow shell. 

Then, it all came back to me. 

I felt like my soul had been sucked back into my body. My senses returned, and I could once again feel. Touch, taste, sight, smell; all returned to my in a hazing wave. I could feel something cold on my back, the surface hard and smooth—most likely metal, I guessed. I opened my eyes, only to fall view to nothing not blackness. I could feel, that was a start. Next, I tried to move, by my body didn't respond.

A sudden hissing came from somewhere above me, the sound muffled as if underwater, then was accompanied by a loud whir. The surface I’d been pressed against tilted to one side, gravity pulling me down until I made contact with the floor... or what I thought was the floor, at least. Everything was fuzzy, nothing exact; half of my feelings pieced together through guesswork, inferencing with what I could feel. The "floor", I had guessed, was cool and smooth, though highly uncomfortable. It was now I was finally able to confirm that I did have a body, as it hurt all over from my impact with the floor. 

I made an effort to let out a groan, the resulting sound was more of a croak, if anything. I also made an effort to try and move my legs, but they were being extremely uncooperative as well. Figuring that trying to move at this point was pretty much out of the question, I took the time to, instead, figure out what the buck was going on. I let out another whine/groan when I realized that I had landed face-first on the floor, so I couldn’t even see until my body decided to work. And considering that it'd be a while until I could move, I decided to discern what I could from the floor. 

My conclusion being that this floor hadn’t been washed in a really, really long time…

After what felt like forever, I finally had enough control over my extremities to roll onto my hooves. My legs wobbled as I tried to stand, my body still barely able to correctly take my brain’s command. As soon as I was sure I wasn’t going to fall back down onto my face, I took a look around. The room around me was dark, the only light coming from a terminal that sat on a table opposite me. Although the rest of the room was in almost completely black, I could still discern some other computer parts and servers that littered the room. Wobbling, I turned around to see what I’d fallen out of. The device looked like some sort of large metal tube with pipes and wires protruding from all sides, the entire contraption seemingly hobbled together and crude. The wires ran along the wall and into the ceiling, and it looked to me as if they were somehow connected with the glowing terminal.

Deciding it would be my first course of action, I slowly trotted over to the terminal, my legs finally able to work without shaking. The screen had a weird logo on it that somehow looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put a hoof on how. It was of a large, white shield with a golden trim—the inside having the image of a glowing sun. I tapped a few keys on the keyboard until the screensaver turned off, to which I was greeted with a very cruel "please insert password". 

“Crap,” I muttered, my voice still sore. With my only source of information to what was going on blocked by a damned “password”, I plopped onto my flank and pressed my hooves to my temples. 

Okay, let’s see what I know. I am in a strange room, no memory of who I was or why I was here, and my body felt like it had been beaten to a pulp... joy.

I rose to my hooves and looked around again, looking for some sort of light switch. When my visual search yielded no result, I decided to do the time tested method of feeling around, stumbling blindly through the dark with my hooves outstretched. It took some feeling around the walls, and more trips and bumping then I would admit, but I finally managed to find a switch and flicked it on… only to instantly regret my choice as the room lit up in a burning glow, blinding my vision.

After several minutes of pain, followed by a few minutes of regret, my eyes finally adjusted to the light. Looking around, I was finally able to properly see the room I was currently in. The walls and floor of the room were white, blinding white, while the ceiling was a light blue. Around the room was a scattering of terminals, servers, wires, tubes and various electrical components. The tube that I had fallen out of was connected to two other larger cylinders, smaller tubes running from one to another. Above is was a sign that read, "Subject: Zero."

Subject: Zero…?

I stared at the sign for a few minutes, before realization it me like a sack of bricks. My eyes frantically shifted around the room, trying to find a mirror or something reflective. I eventually spotted a mirror leaning against a wall, running over to it before and wiping off the dust that coated it. What I saw, I didn't expect. I was expecting some sort of weird, disfigured lab experiment or something like that, but I didn't. I looked like a regular, white earth pony. My eyes were a glowing yellow-orange, while my mane was a brilliant gold. I turned to look at my flank, my cutie mark looking strangely familiar. 

Huh… wait!

I turned around and practically lunged at the terminal. The damned login screen popping up immediately, practically taunting me. 

You son of a… 

Suddenly, something popped into my brain. Practically subconsciously, my hooves tapped at the keys, before a screen of random symbols mixed in with random words appeared. Somehow, something in my mind had clicked, the knowledge of how to hack terminals suddenly popped into the forefront of my once vacant mind. I tapped on the keys, my hooves guided not by my conscious mind, but almost if by instinct. 

The password was in this jumbled text, I just needed to find it. 

After many failed attempts, and having to back out several times, I got it. The password was: "Ambitions." 

The screen changes, giving me access to its internal files. There wasn't much—only three, actually. The first was labeled: Subject 0; the next one was labeled: Project Solar Shield; and the third and final was labeled: Failure Notice. Out of curiosity, I selected the file with, what I could only guess, was my name. The file was a bio, of some kind. It said stuff about my physical and mental attributes as well as… magic abilities? I rubbed my head to confirm my suspicion; I didn't have a horn. I scrolled down further and a list labeled “S.P.E.C.I.A.L” came up.

Strength: 8
Perception: 3
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 6
Agility: 8
Luck: 0

Huh… I agree with the luck, I commented, scrolling down further to find nothing else. Puzzled even more, I clicked out of that and onto "Project: Solar Shield." This one was an audio file. I clicked on it and was greeted by the sound of a stallion's voice coming from the terminal. The voice was slightly scratchy and filled with uncertainty, but still felt as if it came from authority.

"Is this thing on...? It is? Okay!" the voice began, then cleared his throat. "Welcome to Project: Solar Shield. As you were told during orientation: you no longer exist. This place, doesn't exist. And in the eyes of every pony, what we do here never has, or will, happened."

I tilted my head at this, confused by the stallion's meaning.

"As you may already know,” the stallion continued, “this war is going no where. Neither side is gaining any headway. We win a battle, the Zebra's win one back. At this rate, there may not be any winners, only losers—the war dragging on until neither side has anyone left to fight. And, with this reality in mind, Celestia herself created this program. Our job here isn't to win the war, but to end it. Our job is to create some sort of wall between these two nations, and bring the war to a halt. How we are going to do this, we don't know, and that is why you are here. You have been chosen because of your abilities, and we feel that you may help us achieve this goal of peace. There is no backing out now, and if you refuse you will be... removed. I am sorry for this, but the fate of the world is in our hooves, and personal sacrifice is needed. May the Princesses be with you, and help us stop this."

The recording stopped suddenly, and left me with even more question than answers. War... I remember a war. Details were fuzzy, but I remember that Equestria was at war with the Zebra's... and by what I just listened too, no one was winning. Was that what I was? Was I some sort of war machine? Hoping to get more info, I clicked on the last file. It was simple text document that only read: "Subject: Zero - Failed. Please move all efforts to Subject: Alpha." 

Well… that was rude.

I stepped away from the terminal, confused and slightly scared. These ponies were trying to make something that could divide two warring nations, and I had been one of their experiments. 

A failed one, I might add.

Slowly, I got to my hooves. I looked around, spotting and heading towards a door on the far wall. I needed to know more about who I was, and what this… place, had done to me, and it seemed like there was nothing more I could do from this room. I trotted to the door and pushed a the large red button on the wall beside it. The doors slid open with a loud creak and a grind of stripped gears. I walked through and was greeted by a long, white hallway. The walls and floor were the same bright white as the others, and the roof was the same blue. The only difference being the vents that littered the ceiling, evenly spaced. Cautiously, I began to trot down the hallway, my eyes continuously scanning for… well, anything. Looking around, I saw that several doors lined the length of the hallway, plaques with project names  and status carved into their surface. The plaque above the door that I'd just walked out of read: "Project: Solar Guard – Subject: Zero."

Then something hit me, an absence that I had, somehow, failed to notice until now.

Where was everyone? 

When I had first fell out of that tube, I had a feeling that I was alone—the thought of other ponies being here didn't even cross my mind. But why? Where did everyone go? 

I fell back onto my flank and slammed my hooves into my temples. This didn't make sense! I knew things, but didn't. It wasn't like I completely lost my memory, rather that they were being suppressed. 

I took a moment to try and figure out what was actually in my head.

I know that I'm an experiment. I know that I was part of something called: "Solar Shield," something requested by the princess herself... Wait, princess? Celestia was the princess of the sun... But, how did I know that?

I groaned, frustration finally taking it’s toll as I let out a groggily scream of anger. All of my confusion and anger had finally broke the dam that had been holding them back, and I let out another loud scream… which was soon accompanied by the sound of shifting metal. I removed my hooves from my temples to reveal that the vents on the ceiling weren't actually vents, by turret mounts. I stared down the hallway, eyes wide, as several dozen turrets pointed their barrels at me. 

Before I come react, however, and loud mechanical voice echoed throughout the hall. "Intruder identified, please identify or be eliminated!" 

“Uh…” I mumbled. “Ambitions?” It was a longshot, as I doubted they would use the same code twice, but it was better than saying nothing… right?

The sound of the turrets magical blasts charging up immediately stopped, to which I let out a sigh of relief. Damn, I can’t believe that actually work–

"Override denied,” the voice boomed out, cutting me off. “Access restricted to God Tier, prepare to be eliminated." The turrets resumed charging, followed quickly by a practical wall of magical blast shot my way. 

I closed my eyes as my brain told me to run, but my body didn't comply. Instead, I felt a warm, tingling feeling resonate throughout my body, starting from my hooves and making its way up to my muzzle. The feeling of metal resting against my skin soon replaced, this, followed soon after by an empowering wave of energy. My body reacted again without my consent as I jumped to the side, the magic bolts melting the floor where I was just standing; the urge to run was replaced by the urge to rip those turrets out of the ceiling! 

I ran towards the nearest turret, somehow managing to block the incoming fire, the magical beams bouncing off my body as if they were nothing. With a mighty leap, I slammed my hood into the turret, making it explode in a series of magical sparks. I rolled out of my landing and ran towards the next turret. 

I continued to move from turret to turret, dodging the magical blasts before ending their existence. When the hall was finally silent, I looked back at the carnage in my wake; crushed turrets and sparking mounts. I felt a feeling of accomplishment... followed then with more confusion. I looked down at myself, raising an eyebrow when I noticed that I was now wearing some sort of... knight styled armor. The plating was mainly white, with streaks of gold lining most of the edges. The multi-plating was rounded, and was much lighter then I would expect for full body plating. Actually, I could barely feel it at all. But, before I could inspect it further, my body began to tingle again. The armor around me started to glow, then sections began to slowly float off and detach themselves. They twirled in the air around me, orbiting me like a satellite, before folding in on themselves. The folded sections then began to flow brighter, disintegrating into golden flakes that preceded to be absorbed into my skin. 

I stood there, confused and more than a little creeped out.

Okay… maybe this was the experiment? I thought. They had created armor that was not only extremely durable, but also light as all hell… maybe I was a supposed to be some sort of super soldier, seeing as how I completely wrecked those turrets. But, then again, they didn't seem that hard of an opponent. 

The strange feeling of knowing, but also knowing, returned… This was gonna get annoying.

Kicking one of the turrets with a hoof, I walked forwards, watching the sparkling piece of arcane design roll harmlessly away. With one last look, I turned and returned walking down the hall, intent on searching the rest of this floor for clues. But, once again, my search was cut short as just about everything started shaking. The walls hissed dust, lights flickering as they struggle to stay on. The robotic voiced returned, blaring a warning message. Instinct kicked in once again, one I had still to learn the origin of, and I ran down the hall as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going, or where to go, but running seemed like the only option, at this point.

The tremors continued to grow louder and more severe as I continued my sprint,the floor buckling and cracks spider-webbing their way along the once pristine walls. I kept my course strait, only turning when straight wasn't an option. My lungs burned as the world around me shook, red lights flashing and alarms blaring. I didn't know what was going on, or even where I was going, but standing and trying to figure that out seemed like the worst thing right now. 

After what felt like an eternity of running later, I reached a slightly large room that deviated from the usual white and blue color scheme. The front of the room had a large hydrologic door, large Pistons holding it in place. As I skidded to a stop inside of the room, dust falling from the cracks spreading in the roof, I searched around for some sort of control panel. I spotted a large desk with a large amount of buttons and dials, and figure that was what I was looking for. To my delight, button to open the door wasn't actually that hard to spot; the big, red one in the middle seemed pretty obvious. I pressed the button as another larger tremor shook the building, this one I was guessing originated from the door’s opening mechanism. It took all of my concentration not to fall over, to stay on my hooves, as my world shook violently. The door itself shook as the hydraulics slowly creaked it open, to which I didn't wait for it to fully open all the way, jumping through it as soon as it was wide enough for me to fit. 

As I landed on the other side of the door, the usual feeling of a metal floor beneath my hooves was replaced with the soft "crunch" of dirt. I didn't dwell on this, and chose to continue running, scrambling to my hooves as I darted forwards. I only got a few meters away from the door before a loud “bang!” assaulted my ears; the world around me slowly fading to black.





I don't know how long I was out, but I eventually came to. My vision was white, my ears were filled with a horrible ringing, and my everything hurt. I let out a groan of pain, trying to put a hoof to my head. When it didn't, I looked down in horror at the large slab of rock that pinned down my left hoof. My eyes widened, heart racing as I feared the worse of my crushed limb. But, my fears faded to relief when I noticed the nice, cold feeling of metal against my skin, and not rock—my armor surely saving my limb from certainly being crushed. Instinctively, I reeled my free hoof back and slammed it into the slab, the metal-plating taking the brunt of the blow. Small spiderwebs of cracks spread across the rock, much to my delight. I hit it again, and again, and continued my pounding until the rock finally split, sending chunks in all directing. I got to my hooves and inspected my freed hoof—the armor didn't even look scratched! Just as I was about to check out the rest of the armor, there was a familiar tingling feeling as my armor, once again, floated before dissolving back into my skin. 

Oh, come on!

With a sigh of annoyance, I dusted myself off, my head craning around as I checked my surroundings. Behind me was a large mountain; a large cave that had once been carved into it recently collapsed. Recently fallen rocks lay all around me, burying the entrance to wherever I had just been.

“Well… looks like I'm not going back there anytime soon,” I muttered sadly, my hopes of figuring out the misery of whoever, or whatever, I was trapped beneath a wall of stone.

[Continue more]

I ran towards the town. The sounds of screaming and smell of smoke assaulted my senses. My instinct was to ask somepony what was going on, but that was quickly thrown out of my head as I heard a soft scream exit the burning building to my left. Without though, I ran towards the building. The building looked like a rough, two story apartment of some sort. The door was blocked by a burning beam that must've fallen from the top of the building. I began to look for a different entrance, before I hear the scream again.

Flaming splinters flew everywhere whilst massive wave of heat licked at my body as I crashed through the door. I looked left and right, trying to find the source of the scream. The floor I was on was completely covered in flames, smoke filling the ceiling. I laid low as I searched. I was began to cough as I found a set of stairs leading up to the second story. I ran up the stairs, more flames erupted from the wall. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I took a deep breath.

"Where are you?!" I yelled, hoping for a reply. 

My fears that I wouldn't get a response vanished as I hear a soft, almost whisper of "help" coming from somewhere in front of me. I instantly ran towards the sound of the voice, before I found it. Below a slightly charred table was a little orange filly. She stared at me with wide eyes as I approached. I leaned down, trying to get eye level with the little one. 

"Don't worry, I'm here to help," I whispered, trying to calm the frightened filly. She shook her head, curling up into a ball. I could feel that the filly feared me, why, I didn't know, but I could feel it. I bit my lip, the reached down and grabbed the filly by the back of the neck and turned towards the stairs. There was a loud crack as a beam above the stairs broke, blocking my way. The filly in my mouth squirmed, screaming as loud as she could. I turned and looked for another exit, before I hear a crack below me. My eyes went wide as the floor below me began to collapse. I instinctively began to run for the only exit I could see: a window.

The stinging pain of glass digging into my coat assaulted my senses, followed by the pain of those shards being forced deeper into my body from my impact to the ground. I groaned, releasing my grip on the filly that I had cradled in my hooves the second I jumped. I looked her over, noticing that, although she would certainly have minor burns and smoke damage, she seemed okay. I smiled, relief washing over my body as I stared at the clouded sky. My vision shifted, however, when the barrel of some sort of rifle suddenly filled my vision. 

"Get up, slowly..." a gruff voice suddenly spoke up, the owner, I figured, being the one pointing the rifle at me, and my theory was confirmed moments later when the barrel was poked at my face, again. "Get up!!!"

I sighed, surprisingly calm considering I had a gun pointed at my skull. I slowly shifted my hooves, the pain of the glass shards shifting in my back spreading up my spine. It hurt, but I could take it. I got my haunches, and turned to face whoever pointed the gun. To my surprise, I had more than one gun pointed at me. Actually, a lot more than one gun. About twenty ponies in total, all either unicorns or earth ponies, pointed various firearms at me. The pony who had told me to get up was standing at the front, seemingly in charge of the group. He was a red unicorn buck, his mane a dirty brown and his cutie mark one of a bow tie and a top hat. 

Weird cutie mark, if you ask me.

The buck stared at me, murder in his eyes. "You! Before I kill you, would you mind giving the citizens of my town an explanation to why you set it on fire," he commanded, poking his rifle into my head.

I raised an eyebrow. "I… didn't? Look, I just got here, and I don't know who did do this, but it wasn't me." I didn't, right? I didn't remember lighting a fire, but with the day I've been having I couldn't rule out the possibility. Anyways, my response from the stallion was that of the butt of his rifle being slammed into my skull. I stumbled back, putting a hoof to the wounded area.

"Lier!!!" he screamed, cocking the bolt of his rifle before pointing it back at me. "I saw you, we all saw you! You came down from the mountains. We thought you were just a traveler, until you killed our guards and started torching our houses!!!" The buck's rifle trembled slightly, and I was worried that it was going to go off. "You ruined our town, and we want to at least know why before we kill you!" He tilted his head at the look of horror I have I'm in return.

What? Had I really done that? No, I couldn't've… could I? Maybe… maybe that was what I was: some sort of killing machine. I slumped my head, pressing it into the Buck's barrel. If that was what I was, I needed to end myself before I hurt anyone else. "Do it, kill me... I don’t want to hurt anyone else."

The buck took a step back, honest shock filling his features. It only took a moment for him to recover, and I felt the cold steel of his barrel press against the top of my skull.

"No!" a young, gravely voice screamed out, followed by audible coughing. 

I lifted my head, seeing the little orange filly I'd saved run to the front of the group, panting. Soon after, a mare, who appeared to be his mother, picked her up and tried to pull her back. The filly screamed, scrambling out of his mother's grasp and running up to me, latching her hooves onto my leg. "No, don't kill him! He saved me, he couldn't be the one who did this!!!" she screamed, making the stallion in front of me take a step back. 

I sighed, running a soft hoof threw the little pony's head. "I know I did, little one, but if they said it was me… then it must've been me. I… I don't remember doing this, but I also don't remember much…" I bowed my head. "I don't wanna hurt anypony else…"

The filly looked like she was going to cry, her eyes watering as she stared at me. I felt bad for her, but I knew this was what needed to be done. I was a monster, a failed experiment that even I don't know the full details too. I could be dangerous; I was dangerous. For some unexplainable reason, the thought of my hurting somepony felt me with a deeply seeded sickness, as well as an almost physical pain. I know that feeling bad is normal, but this was something else entirely.

"His cutiemark, his cutie-mark!!! It's different!" 

Huh? I raised my head, getting a clear view of the estate filly, jumping up and down, her hoof pointed forwards. I followed her hoof, and saw the golden sun and shield still on my flank. "No, it's the same," I responded.

Suddenly, the stallion with the rifle spoke up. "I’ll be, she's right, it is different."

Wait… what? Okay, now I was confused. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

The stallion put his rifle down, to which the rest in the crowd followed. "Yer cutie mark is different than the one who burned our town; that stallion had a sword instead of a shield.” He shook his head. “Damn, I almost executed the wrong stallion. He sure as heck looked like you, same color and everything, but definitely a different cutie-mark. Sorry about that, and what this filly said was true, and you did save her life, we should be thanking you."

“Uh… Okay?” I was unsure, the entire situation just adding my seemingly non stop confusion. But, I decided to push that aside for the time being, focusing on the present. 

The stallion offered a hoof, to which I took as he helped me to my hooves. “There ya are,” he began, nodding. His head then turned to the rest of the town. “Alright! This here stallion is not the one we’re lookin’ for, so please don’t kill him,” he began, to which they nodded and began to disperse.

I took the time to dust myself off again, then reached back and began to pull the glass shards from my back. It stung, and I winced, but it didn't quite hurt as much as I had expected. 

“Damn, you’re hurt,” I heard the stallion speak up, to which I raised my head to meet his gaze. “Here, let me take you to our town’s Doctor—she’ll be happy to patch you up, as it was her daughter you saved.”

I nodded, following the stallion and he lead us through the town. Now that I wasn't focused on fire, nor getting shot, I was actually able to give the place a good look over. The houses were all roughly put together shacks, their supports, walls, and roofs made of seemingly salvaged materials. It wasn’t much, but I couldn’t help but admire the ingenuity that had taken. 

“As you can see, our town isn’t much, but we’re getting there!” the stallion spoke, his words filled with pride. “Oh! I almost forgot!” He stopped, holding out a hoof to me. “My name is Top Hat, the mayor of this town, Summerville!”

I shook the offered hoof. “Nice to meet you, Top Hat.”

He stood there and stared at me, seemingly waiting for me to say something. 

I cocked my head to the side. “What?”

“And you are?” he said, trailing off the question.

Oh… but who was I? I didn’t really know a name, and the only thing I knew for certain was that I was Subject: Zero, not exactly the best thing to call myself. But, on the other hoof, I did have to call myself something. 

“Zero,” I spoke, deciding it was as good of a name as any. “Call me Zero.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Zero! Sorry we couldn’t have met on better terms, but you understand our predicament,” he concluded, turning and resuming the trot. “Come along, now. Don’t want you to bleed out in our streets.”

I nodded in agreement, following him. My back still hurt, each step just grinding the broken glass deeper into my back, widening the already gushing wound. 

It wasn’t long after that when we made it to what I figured was the clinic. It was one of the larger buildings in the settlement, easily double the size of the average house, but the most discerning difference was the cobble-together Ministry of Peace logo on its roof. 

Ministry of Peace… now that was something else that was familiar… 

The mayor strolled into the front door ahead of me, immediately screaming. “Hacksaw! We got another patient for you!”

“Hacksaw?” I asked, making sure I heard her name right. “On second thought, I think I’ll do it myself…” 

“Don’t let the name fool you, dear, I am excellent at what I do,” spoke a mare as she trotted into the room. Her coat was pink, her mane a light blue while her cutiemark depicted a bone and saw. 

Yeah, that wasn’t helping.

The mare trotted up to me, noticing the shards sticking out of my back. “Yikes, I need to get those out a.s.a.p!” She turned and pointed to a cot. “Lay on your stomach there while I go and get my tools.”

I was hesitant, but I did as I was told and trotted over to makeshift bed, brushing off the fact that it was covered in dried blood.

Just don’t think about it… 

I slowly lowered down, resting myself on the lumpy material. I then closed my eyes and tried to let myself just rest for once, the whole… however long it’s been since I was, uh… woken up? had been a complete drain on my mentally and physically, to which I embraced this moment of quiet.

“Oh, it’s you!” 

Well, silence broken. I turned slightly to spot the filly from earlier, bouncing lightly a few feet to my right. I chuckled, only able to smile at the adorable creature. “Yeah, it’s me,” I began. “How’re you feeling?”

She stopped bouncing, letting out a stream of coughs. I winced, at the sight, feeling horrible that a filly that young had to deal with something as painful as smoke damage. Soon, she stopped her mini coughing fit, wiping her mouth. “Not that good… my chest hurts to breath sometimes, and I cough a lot…” she began, her head held low, before perking back up. “But! Better than if you hadn’t saved me.” She gasped. “Oh! I never thanked you! Uh, thank you!”

I chuckled, reaching out a hoof and patting her mane. “No problem, kid.”

“And thank you from me too,” I heard the voice of the doctor call out, her outline coming into view, balancing a bag of medical tools on her back. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her.” She stopped to nuzzle her daughter, pushing her back with a hoof. “Now you run along now, Mommy has to work.”

The filly protested, but obeyed her mother’s wishes, trotting out of the clinic, giving me one last wave before exiting. 

Hacksaw shook her head, putting down her bag. “I really do appreciate what you did out there—not many ponies in the wasteland would risk himself for somepony they didn't even know.” She shook her head, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pair of tweezers in her maw. “Which begs the question: why did you?”

I felt her lean over my back, and could feel as she began to pull out the glass shards, dropping them into a metal pan besides the bed. I winced with each pull.

“Well… I don't know,” I admitted. “I heard somepony in trouble, so I helped out; doesn't seem like something that should be all that shocking.”

The mare chuckles. “Yeah, you would think, but most ponies these days don't have that mindset, which makes me think you are not from here.” She stopped to pull a larger shard from my back, one that my eyes went wide as I saw it clink into the metal pan. “So, where are you from, then? Stable?”

Stable? “No? I don't think so, at least. To be honest, I've only been awake for a few hours now, and I can't quite remember anything other than that.”

The mare stopped, dropping from my back and looking me over. “What do you mean ‘awake?’” she questioned.

I shrugged, not sure how to explain it any other way. “I mean just that: I just, well, woke up. The earliest thing I can remember is being toppled out of some sort of tube… thingy, and after that I was in some weird laboratory or something.” I shrugged. “Soon after that the entire place collapsed, and, well, I came here after that.”

The mare looked me over cautiously, and curiously. “You came from the mountain?” she question, sounding doubtful. “Everypony we’ve sent to try and salvage from that place almost gets killed by it’s damned security system; even after three hundred years that thing is still kicking.” She trotted back and resumed pulling the glass from my back. “It sounds to me like you were one of the unlucky pre-war ponies to be subjected to some sort of weird experiment.” She pulled the final piece from my back, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bottle of some shiny liquid. “I wonder what they…” she suddenly paused, taking a step back.

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?” I asked, looking up to see her gazing at my back with a mix of wonder and shock. 

“I… Uh… N-nothing!” She began, rushing forwards and pressing her hooves hard into my back. “I can fix this!”

What? She can fix what? And why was I feeling… Sleepy. My eyelids slowly began to get heavier, and I looked back to see a practical waterfall of blood dripping down from where her hooves pressed into my back. The mare was frantic, trying to stop the bleeding as she reached into her bag. I tried to watch longer, but it was getting harder to hold up my head, and I felt it slowly lower to the mattress, my eyes closing as I could feel the embrace of sleep call to me.

Blissful sleep.

“Shit, fuck! No, don't you bleed out! Fuck!” 

“Oh… Crap, not another artery. Fuck! Where are my fucking tweezers!”

“Okay… That seems to have stabilized… Wait, no!”

I could only listen as I was slowly pulled from the grip of reality, the world fading to black…





For the second time since I had awoken, I opened my eyes from the embrace of unconsciousness. Luckily, this time I didn't feel anything crushing me, nor the cool metal feel of my armor, so I took that as a good sign.

With a groan, I opened my eyes, only to close them as an irritating sting spread up my spine from my back. I grit my teeth, letting the feeling run it course, before fading to a dull throb. When it was manageable, I opened my eyes again and looked around, seeing the darkened interior of the clinic. I also looked around me, spotting several empty blood bags, bloody gauze, and bloody, well, everything. If what I remember was correct, the ‘good doctor’ had pulled out a shard that had been severed a major artery, and since I was still alive I could only imagine that she had been able to rectify her mistake before I bleed out.

With another groan, I tried to rise to my hooves. I was shaky, but still able to get up. My back hurt, my head hurt, but it all felt like a dull throb, at this point. Well, more than that, but it was still manageable. 

Apparent I had been loud enough to get somepony's attention, as the sound of hooves across wood trotted my way. Soon, Hacksaw entered the room, her eyes going wide at the sight of me as she rushed over. 

“No! Get back down on that bed right now! You’ve lost a lot of blood and you shouldn't be doing anything right now!” she commanded as she tried to shove me back onto the mattress.

I complied. “Okay, doc.”

The mare calmed once I returned to the mattress, her worried expression changing to relief. “Thank the princesses you’re awake—from how much blood you lost I feared you had slipped into a coma.” She blushed. “Sorry about that,” she added.

I shrugged. “No harm done…” I winced, a wave of pain filling my body. “I hope…”