Chapter 28 - The Faded Star

"The light faded, and soon, only darkness remained."

===~+~===

“-ke up. Come on, Ratchet. Wake up. You’re still alive, I know it. I can see your vitals right here,” I hear a voice calling out to me. My body feels stiff and lacks energy to move. I can barely open my eyes. “You weren’t this stubborn the first time I woke you, geez,” The voice says with annoyance clearly evident in it.

When I finally get my eyes to open a bit, I see the inside of my cryopod. “What…?” I mutter as I blink a few times and start shaking my head. My head is killing me. The pod starts to open up and I slowly drag myself out of pod. “Ugh, Cora?” I ask. The room looks really bright and I feel something trickling out of my nose.

“Uh-oh,” Cora replies. “That’s not good. Your uh...nose is bleeding, Ratchet,” She tells me. I raise up a hoof and wipe my nose. When I bring it back in front of my eyes, I do indeed see blood. “Huh. I did the same procedure as last time and your vitals were just fine. I wonder if it is some sort of reaction to being frozen multiple times,” She speculates.

As she continues to suggest reasons for the bloody nose my concentration drifts away as I feel my stomach rising into my throat. I try to contain it, but it proves futile as the contents of my stomach spill out all over the floor. “Oh my,” Cora mutters. “Are you, uh, going to be ok Ratchet?” She asks.

I pant over the mess I just made for a moment, spitting out the remaining sick from my mouth. “Actually, I suddenly feel a whole lot better,” I tell her. “I ate a while before getting in the pod this time, right?” I ask her.

“The first time, I specifically remember I went a day without eating in preparation. Maybe it is some sort of reaction that happens when the stomach has solid contents inside?” I suggest with a shrug and pick myself up to my hooves. “Damn it,” I mutter dejectedly. “I still remember exactly what happened as though I wasn’t even in the pod.”

“I did tell you that would happen,” Cora says disapprovingly. “But, you insisted and did it anyway. Told me to wake you up when something happened to take your mind off of it,” She reminds me.

“Yea, yea. I know, it literally just happened for me, ya know. And again, sorry about all that stuff I said. You’re my friend Cora,” I tell her. “So, what’s going on?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve had two and a half decades to get over it,” She tells me. “As for what’s going on, I found a facility. It is an old MAS facility in the Ghastly Gorge. Some scavengers in Ponyville told me about it, but they said a large portion of it was sealed off and that it required clearance to go any deeper,” She informs me.

“They didn’t just try to force their way in?” I ask. That’s how things usually work. In the wasteland, it is take what you want and don’t worry about collateral damage.

“They tried,” Cora tells me. “But, the door is apparently really thick and sturdy metal, the terminal is virtually unhackable, their words, not mine, and any sort of attempt to break in triggers defence systems to activate. The scavengers barely made it out alive when they tried to blow up the door.”

That’s about right. “Ok, it sounds promising. Any idea what the facility did?” I ask.

“The scavengers picked over everywhere they could. But they didn’t find any documentation, books, blueprints, or strange gadgets. Just your average wasteland salvage. They did mention piles of ash in the waste bins though. I suspect any documents were destroyed long ago,” She replies.

“Gotcha, so we are going in blind until we manage to open the doors. Well, get in your armor and get ready to go. I’ll get my things together,” I tell her as I walk over to retrieve my PipBuck from the console.

“Oh, uh, by the way, about your PipBuck…” Cora says as I pull it out of its storage area and start putting it on my leg. “I may have tried to update it again.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you. Did it work?” I ask as I finish putting it on and my vision flashes for a moment before returning. Various readouts and data scroll across my vision. Then warnings start filling my sight and I let out a sigh as I begin to read. It is the same things that weren't working before. I was worried there for a moment.

I blink and slowly turn to look into the camera suspended from the ceiling. “Cora. You know that updating usually is supposed to fix things, right?” I ask her. She laughs nervously in response. “You know, I guess you did manage to get the EFS working, somewhat…” I mutter.

In my vision, I can see bars on the compass. Though, they vary in color from red to blue to green to purple. A few other colors are in there as well. “I’m guessing that it now marks locations of things that are potential threats, just not their actual hostility? Why not just one single color though?” I ask.

“I also clearly remember having more SPECIAL stats and perks too. At least I still have my level and skill points I earned...But still,” I mutter.

“I can explain that,” Cora tells me. “You see, during the updates, some perks were removed and the amount of SPECIAL points you originally start with was decreased. You are still behind on four hundred and sixty three updates.”

“What? They just removed perks and stats with updates? How does that even work? Aren’t they like...part of me?” I ask, confused.

“I don’t know,” She replies again. “Neither of us really understand PipBucks all that well. Let alone how the stat systems work. Someone out there probably understands all this though, and who are we to question the creators?” She says.

“Right...well then, I suppose I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing. Now then, shall we go?” I ask her.

“One more thing,” Cora tells me. “You should go talk with Twinkle. She’s been here for a month now, and it is weirding me out because she won’t leave or tell me why.”

“Twinkle? Oh, so not that long has passed, hu? But, why does her not leaving seem weird? This is her home now, right?” I ask her.

“Uh, kind of. It has been weird since you’ve been away. She and the other Rangers never stayed here long. Only a day or two to resupply and rest up, then they would set out again. But Twinkle, hasn’t set hoof outside for an entire month.” Cora replies.

“Twenty-five years. A few months too, but that’s not too important,” Cora says.

“Twenty-five years, hu? That means Twinkle would be, what? In her fifties or sixties? You know, if I keep getting frozen, telling time is going to get weird. Let’s start up a new system, ok? We will start it the day the Megaspells fell and go from there. Which means we are in the year 60 of the...let’s go with Wasteland Era,” I suggest.

“Why can’t we just keep counting from where it last left off?” Cora asks. “Seems unnecessary to make a new system.”

I shake my head. “It might be necessary. Especially in the future. The world basically ended, we should mark it as an important time. Just saying the original year wouldn’t do it justice. It needs to be known that things practically started completely over,” I tell her.

“I suppose,” She mutters. “Very well, I’ll start referring to the year in terms of the Wasteland Era, as you suggest. Now, I’ll go get ready, you go talk to Twinkle. We might need her help, you know.” Cora tells and she unlocks the room. “She’s in the infirmary.”

A quick walk later and I arrive at the infirmary, half of which has been converted into a sort of common area. I’m not entirely sure where the couches, chairs, and tables came from, but I did tell the Rangers they could do what they wanted with my lab while I was frozen. It isn’t a bad change. Elder Twinkle is laying on one of the couches reading an old book.

She doesn't notice me enter, so I take the opportunity to look her over, especially since she isn’t in her power armor, but a set of blue robes. I immediately notice the she has aged quite a bit. Wrinkles have developed and there is a hind of gray in her mane. But other than the signs of aging, I don’t see a single thing different about her. No scars or lingering injuries, that I can see anyway.

That is unexpected. Though, then again, so is seeing her reading a book. I expected her to be maintaining a gun or something. I clear my throat to get her attention. After a moment, she looks up at me expressionlessly for a moment, then tilts her head and asks, “Ratchet?”

I nod. “Yea, I’m back in the world of the living once again,” I tell her. “Uh, I suppose I should start by apologizing for everything that happened before I froze myself again…” I mutter.

Twinkle shakes her head. “Don’t bother, Cora told us all about it once the deed was done. I understand, we all did,” She tells me. It is odd, she seems different. Tired, sad almost.

“What about the other Rangers?” I ask. “Are they all still doing well?” She grimaces.

“Dead,” She tells me simply. “The last one under my command died around fourteen years ago. I’m alone now, the sole survivor of Stable 36, an Elder in name only,” She says. I’m about to inquire further when she holds up a hoof. “They all died honorably fighting against raiders and protecting the innocent. They are buried with the others,” She tells me, remorse in her voice.

This is wrong. This isn’t the Twinkle I know. She wouldn’t be so deeply affected by the deaths of her comrades, especially if they died in battle. What happened? “Cora tells me you’ve been here a month,” I state.

“Cora made it seem you were rarely ever here until about a month ago. What changed?” I ask.

“What were you reading?” I ask her, grabbing the book in my magic. She raises a hoof to try and stop me, but I get it past her and read the cover. “Eberron, lord of death. A collection of mythology.” I set it on the table between us and notice her outstretched hoof shaking in the air and her mouth agape.

Twinkle’s eyes tremble for a moment before tears start to fall from them, surprising me. Her following words surprise me even more. “They are all dead and I don’t understand it,” She tells me. “I’ve read and reread every book on Eberron to reaffirm my beliefs. My lord, Eberron...I gave him countless souls, my enemies and my allies fell for him. But now I am alone…” She mutters.

She lowers her hoof and looks down at the floor. “I don’t understand it. He demands sacrifice, no matter who you are or what you are, you are nothing but a drop in the sea of his collected souls. And yet…” She hesitates. “I don’t die. No one can kill him. I can’t give my soul to Eberron.”

“All my life, I’ve killed in the name of Eberron, sending my enemies to him. All the while, my comrades died around me, going to serve Eberron in the next life. But I remain. I continue to kill in his name, but I don’t think I will ever get to the next life,” She tells me.

“Is that so strange?” She asks. “All of my friends are dead, for a while I thought all I needed was to kill for Eberron but then…A thought occurred to me. What if Eberron doesn’t want me?” She suggests.

“Doesn’t want you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. She nods and gets up off the couch. In one motion, she disrobes, revealing her unblemished hide.

“I have been in countless battles, stood in the open amongst thousands of bullets, but I have never been injured. Not once. My armor has barely ever been scratched! I even went into battle with these robes for the past two years, and not a single bullet struck me! I even charged ten raiders barehoofed and killed them all!” She shouts.

“I thought it was Eberron’s blessing at first, his desire for me to keep killing in his name, but what if it is his curse instead? Him cursing me to die of old age and never join him in the afterlife I deserve?” She says with a wavering smile.

“In all the texts on Eberron, I’ve never heard of something like this. No mention of curses or even blessings that protect a pony. Just the same line repeated over and over. ‘Kill in his name and the afterlife will be one filled with bliss.’ I don’t understand what is happening,” She tells me.

“If you want to die, why not just let someone kill you? Or kill yourself?” I suggest to her. But she just shakes her head with a frown.

“The texts specify that you can only join him if you die in battle honorably. That means no dying on purpose and certainly no suicide,” She replies, letting out a sigh. “I’ve spent this entire month trying to understand, but I am no closer to the answer now than when I began,” She mutters.

Suddenly, her eyes seem to sparkle and she starts talking about a distant memory. “You know, back when I was a filly, my mother used to sing me a song. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, it went. I liked it, since it had my name it in. I thought perhaps, I was a star, twinkling brightly,” She chuckles sadly. “I’ve never even seen a real star, since I was born in Stable 36.”

“Shortly after, I took up learning about Eberron and resolved to be a Twinkling Star in service to him. And I shone brightly. I’ve lost count of how many souls I’ve sent to Lord Eberron. However...These last few years, as the doubt has crept in on me, and this last month in particular...I fear that I no longer twinkle. I am faded now, diluted with doubt and worry, unsure of how to proceed,” She says sadly.

“I’m...so very tired of being a leader, Ratchet. You’re awake for a reason and I’ll help you. I just have one request, if there is an opportunity for me to die, let me take it. Don’t give me potions or try to save me. Let me go,” She tells me.

“You wouldn’t understand, Ratchet. You’ve been gone for twenty-five years. And things have only gotten worse. Grimoire may be dead, but there are more raiders now than ever. Sure, they aren’t organized or threatening to destroy the world, but there are countless more than there were before. And, there are also slavers now. Seems tame at first glance, but slavery is slavery after all. Things are getting worse and worse each day,” She tells me.

“It is more than I can manage, more than my squad could manage. Even if you decided to stick around and help, nothing would come of it. No, the only way to stop this decline is a miracle. Short of the skies opening up or Celestia and Luna coming back, what we would do would amount to a drop in the ocean of what needs to be done,” She tells me.

I furrow my brow. Could things really have gotten that bad in twenty-five years? Twinkle continues, “There is a saying I’ve heard recently. ‘When will the Wasteland break you?’ I’ve heard it said for the reason ponies turned raider, the reason parents sell their children into slavery. It is saying one thing, that the Wasteland will break you. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it. And Ratchet, I think it has broken me.”

I harden my expression. This isn’t the Twinkle I once knew, it is a shell of what she once was. Did the Wasteland break her or was it the deaths of her friends and the seemingly futility of her actions? During the war, ponies always found something to blame for their misfortunes and inability to move forward. Is the Wasteland the new thing to blame? But, maybe Twinkle is right. I don’t understand.

“Get your armor on and your things together. We are going to Ghastly Gorge in search of another cryopod. It might hold something that can help the wasteland,” I tell her and let out a sigh. “Or, it might hold something that will kill us all. Either way, we’ll need your help.”

Twinkle at last gives me a genuine smile, like the ones she used to wear twenty-five years ago. “Let’s get going then, Scribe Crusader Ratchet.”

===~+~===

When the three of us arrive on the edge of the Ghastly Gorge where Cora said the scavengers found the facility, what we find isn’t some spectacular MAS lab, but a simple geological station. It rests on the edge of the gorge in a dilapidated state and only consists of four rooms in total.

“Well, this is it?” I ask, a little disappointed. “Where is the door they couldn’t open?” I adjust my barding, still getting use to all the new additions Cora had put on it. A total of seven knife holsters, since I can apparently hit things with knives but not guns. The only gun I’m carrying is Forgiveness, the revolver I got when I first woke up in the Wasteland, and my barding now also has a custom holster for it.

Twinkle sighs. “What a let down. Leave it to scavengers to lead you on a wild goose chase,” She mutters.

“No,” Cora says, looking around. “This is the place. They said it resembled a geological station on the surface, but once you enter the gorge it changes dramatically. We just need to find the way down,” She mutters.

I look over the edge of the gorge. Jagged rocks and an almost sheer cliff face, basically a bad time if we decide to walk down it without a proper path. “And they failed to mention the way down to it?” I ask, and then spot a sort of platform with cables descending into the gorge. “What about that?” I say, pointing a hoof.

We walk over to the structure which is suspended over the gorge with a five foot square hole in the middle of it. Four cables fall from the top of it into the gorge, and a few other cables fasten it safely to the top of the cliff. Around the side of the structure is a chest high wall to keep us from falling off.

“Are we going to slide down the cables?” Twinkle asks. “Getting back up will be a pain.” Just as she says that the cables start moving coiling up and I hear a quiet whirring. I look over at Cora and see her hoof on a red button near the hole in the structure.

“It seems to be a lift,” She tells us. That explains a lot. In a few moments, another platform rises up from the bottom of the gorge and sets into place in the hole that was in the platform. The three of us step onto the new platform and Cora hits the button again, causing the platform to descend once more.

Once we are at the bottom, a door set into the wall of the gorge greets us. “Well, this looks promising,” I mutter as I step off the platform and walk up to the door. Cora and Twinkle follow behind me as the door opens and we proceed to walk into the facility.

Just like the scavengers said, it changed dramatically. Desks, filing cabinets, tables filled with books and papers. I’m about to suggest that we split up and check the place out, but remember it has already been scavenged so there probably aren’t any hostiles in this part of the facility. I wonder why the scavengers didn’t take the books and papers though? “Let’s find that door,” I tell the others as we begin to walk through the facility.

We walk through various rooms that have clearly been picked clean of anything of value. Filing cabinets and desks lay strewn open and hoofprints are evident in the dust that coats the floors. There is nothing remarkable in this section of the facility anymore. Even the terminals have been stripped for parts.

Finally, we reach a solid looking door that appears to have been blackened from explosives. Bingo. I look just to the right of the door and spot a terminal. “Alright, let’s see if this is something we have access to,” I say as I turn the terminal on. It lights up and information across the screen. I wait until it shows the login screen.

Unlike a normal login screen, this one displays a special message. MAS Head Researcher or Above Clearance Required. Well, that should include me, right? I enter my credentials and hit enter. After a moment the terminal shows Access Granted and I select the option to open the door. A light above the door changes from red to green and it opens.

“Looks like we are in business,” I tell them with a smirk. “Let’s make sure it is safe inside before we get too far ahead of ourselves. Check for traps and hostiles,” I say, glancing at my EFS. I see a single orange mark ahead of us. This multi-colored marker system is going to be a huge headache. It doesn’t even indicate anything with the color. I let out a sigh and step through the doorway.

Beyond the doorway is a far dirty facility than what we just walked through. It seems they used the previous part of the facility after this one was sealed up. There is more equipment in this area than the previous one. Probably for testing on whatever is sealed here. Will we find a pod?

I see equipment for biological study, such as x-rays and other medical supplies. But as the lighting flickers on, everything is shrouded in a slight blue hue. “Uh...What’s with this lighting?” I ask.

“They appear to be emitting ultraviolet light,” Cora replies. “Though, it is only a slight amount, which is why the room or light itself doesn’t appear as dark blue. It is like the UV light is intermixed with the regular light and is not always on.”

“So, it is like the lights here are being turned off and on really quickly, but instead of turning on/off, they are switching between regular and UV light?” I ask.

“Something like that,” Cora says. “Though, I suspect it is more complicated than that and probably involves magic to some extent.”

“Weirrrrrd,” Twinkle says, looking around. She strikes her hoof on a machine, knocking dust off of it and sending it showering to the ground. “You know, I used to shine my armor once a week. But I’ve had to do it after every expedition into the Wasteland. I understand this place, abandoned like it is, but no one cleans anything,” She complains.

“Well, when you clean a little bit and the next day it is even dirtier, is kind of defeats the purpose of cleaning,” Cora tells her. “That’s why most don’t bother.”

“I know, I know,” Twinkle mutters. “But they could at least try. Repetition is what does it, keeps the dirt and grime at bay,” She says.

“Most ponies are too busy just trying to find a way to survive,” Cora replies. “They don’t have the time or the luxury to clean things. Besides, finding decent cleaning products is fairly hard too. Like a clean mop or broom? Forget about it,” She tells Twinkle.

The two of them continue making small talk as we look around the facility. It is odd to me how close they seem to have become. How much they know about the Wasteland now. Is that what spending twenty-five years in it does?

“Seriously Ratchet, your bathroom is the cleanest thing I’ve seen in the Wasteland by far,” Twinkle tells me. I look back at her in surprise at suddenly being included in the conversation. I was only half listening to them. Just staying on guard takes all my focus. I guess the two of them have adapted to being able to converse while staying alert.

“Uh, yea,” I tell her awkwardly. “It is probably because the lab is sealed properly and not much dirt or dust gets in. After the initial cleaning, the only contaminants are what we bring in with us and our dead skin and hair cells.”

Cora nods. “True, but having probably the only stash of actually clean cleaning supplies doesn’t hurt either. We could probably sell our mop for a few thousand caps,” She tells me.

“Like I said, clean cleaning supplies are hard to come by. And cleaning with dirty supplies doesn’t clean much, you know?” Cora replies. I silently agree with her as we enter through another door. “Oh,” Cora mutters in surprise.

Oh indeed. Much of the lighting in the room has been damaged, only a few of them work. The rest are either broken or burnt out. On one side of the room is another door that leads into what appears to be an observation area looking into this room. A thick pane of reinforced glass separates that room and this one.

This room is sparsely furnished aside from a few workstations around the edges of the room. Which is odd considering how big the room is. But, I suppose the object in the center is why the room is so lacking in decor. A cryopod, or at least something similar to it.

The pod looks similar to my own design, but it is remarkably different in its function. It doesn’t use cryogenics, for example. I’m not exactly sure how it works just by looking at it, but that much is clear due to the lack of the large freezing equipment needed to reach low enough temperatures to flash freeze a pony and keep them alive.

The design is sleeker and more streamline. I doubt this is a prototype for a different kind of pod. There must be more of these, then. But if they aren’t mine, who made them? And does that mean that someone else was working on a similar project at the same time as me? Could that be how Twilight managed to create so many more without my knowledge?

“Impressive tech,” Twinkle remarks. “Looks even more impressive than yours.”

“Well, mine is a prototype and this one appears to be a production model,” I reply. “Cora, you notice the differences, right?” I ask her.

“Of course. It appears to be a stasis pod, but unlike yours it doesn’t freeze the occupant. I’d guess it uses some sort of chemical mixture of keep the occupant in a state of near-death,” Cora responds.

“So, we gona crack it open and see who or what is inside?” Twinkle asks, motioning to the pod.

“Well, we should try to figure out what is in it first,” I tell her, looking over to the terminal beside it. “If it is like Cygnus’s pod, the terminal will display information about the occupant and give us the option to either kill it or release it.”

Twinkle chuckles. “We are going to release it regardless, right? That’s why I came along. Promise of fighting something that might be able to kill me, remember?” She says.

I sigh. “Still going on about that, hu? It could be something that can destroy everything, something we won’t be able to stop. We aren’t going to set that free just so you can fulfill your deathwish,” I tell her.

“Fine,” she mutters, “but if it is something we can handle, we’re letting it out.”

“Let me check the terminal…” I mutter as I wipe away the dust from the screen. It appears to still be working and I use my credentials to log into it. After a moment it kicks finishes the start up and displays three entries. A single text file and two options for the pod. The options simply state KILL and RELEASE. “One text file, hu? It doesn’t even appear that long,” I say as I open it.

The entirety of the document is only a few paragraphs in length. Quite sparse in comparison to the many documents the head researcher of Cygnus’s lab left. Either there isn’t much to say or a great deal of it is higher clearance than I have access to. Whatever the case, I’ll take any information at all.

===~+~===

This facility was created with the sole purpose of furthering the research and training of military asset codename Umbra. The location was selected due to the depth of the gorge and the fact it is almost always cast in shadow except for a few hours around noon. Umbra is a specially created being created through Project Chimera and one of the few relative successes of the project before it was terminated.

As with all specimens created through Project Chimera, Umbra was created through the union of pony and [REDACTED] DNA. Due to this, Umbra’s body has been swallowed by shadows and their form is amorphous, ever changing and never staying still, yet Umbra keeps an appearance similar to that of a pony.

Despite this interesting physiology, x-rays have shown a sort of bone system within. The skeleton isn’t rigid and morphs along with Umbra’s body. Testing has shown that Umbra experiences bone fractures and pain as it would normally, yet doesn’t bleed blood. Instead, shadows seem to fall from her when injured.

The composition of these shadows is unknown, as they are intangible. This [REDACTED] as we have taken to calling it, acts just like normal shadows. After time or when exposed to UV light, it fades away.

Umbra’s strengths show themselves when she is fully shrouded in shadows. She seem to be able to make shadows a part of her body and control them, despite varying light levels. The only kind of light that seems to prevent Umbra’s actions is sunlight and special UV lights that have been created specifically for this facility in order to contain her.

When Umbra is exposed to sunlight or the UV lighting she experiences [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. This seems to be something unique to Umbra, as not even the [REDACTED] suffered such limitations.

Umbra’s abilities range from close quarters attacks to long ranged precision assaults. No distance is too far as long as she has enough shadows to bridge the gap. She attacks using her body by morphing it into fast moving spikes to pierce her target. Her shadows are able to penetrate the thickest of metals, including the armor of tanks.

Her shadows can only move in linear directions, but can change direction mid-attack. That is to say, her attacks do not curve but follow a path directly from point A to point B. In order to attack around a corner, a point C would be introduced that has a straight path to both points A and B. She is not limited in the amounts of points either, and can group them so tightly together that the untrained eye might perceive her attack as curving.

Because of all her aforementioned traits, she is a candidate for stealth and night operations. Even fielding her on a battlefield at night would be an ideal situation. The one downside to Umbra, is that she must be instructed by another. Using [REDACTED] we are able to give her instructions that she follows perfectly.

When not receiving instructions Umbra stares into space, unmoving for hours, even days at a time. This is odd, given her intelligence. Umbra will respond when spoken to, but rarely initiates conversation. On rare occasions she discusses the tests and experiments with the staff, even pointing out their mistakes. This is exceptionally strange, given that [REDACTED] was never an intelligent pony to begin with.

There have also been rare occasions where Umbra has shown aggression to the staff, despite most of her memories about her past and the process that created her having been removed. Because of these outbursts and her knowledge about subjects she should have no knowledge of, my working theory is that when she merges with a pony’s shadow she also assumes their knowledge.

This is mere conjecture on my part, however, as any attempts to test this ability have been met with resistance and what I suspect is feigned ignorance on Umbra’s part. Now, she is being sealed away in one of my stasis pods due to the closure of Project Chimera, so the truth may never be known.

This concludes my summation of test subject #017, military asset codename Umbra of Project Chimera.

===~+~===

Once I finish reading the contents aloud, I ask Cora, “Did you ever hear of Project Chimera?”

She shakes her head. “No. Given the location and secrecy of this facility, it is probably a top secret project unknown to all but the top members of the government,” She tells me.

“So, are we going to open it or what? It doesn’t seem that bad. We can put it down if it can’t be reasoned with. The file did say Umbra was intelligent,” Twinkle says.

“I suppose. But!” I tell her. “Keep your weapons lowered unless she starts attacking. We don’t want to provoke her.” I think for a second and add, “Actually, don’t attack her even then. She might be scared, so she might try to attack one of us right away. Cygnus even tried to kill me right when I freed him,” I tell her. “Don’t harm her till I say to.”

“Fine, fine. Let’s hurry this along then,” Twinkle replies. I let out a sigh and close the document and return to the menu. Then, I select OPEN and the pod immediately lets out a hissing noise. Sounds like it is equalizing the pressure inside the pod.

The pod begins to open and then stops after opening about a foot. And then, dozens of spikes pierce out of the pod, shredding through it like it is nothing and embedding themselves into the walls and floors, narrowly avoiding the three of us. Twinkle has one less than an inch away from her neck, and she didn’t even move to avoid it. “They missed,” She mutters.

“Settle down, Twinkle. Remember what I said,” I tell her, then focus on the pod. “Umbra, right? Are you alright? I know that waking up in one of those pods, though I suppose not one of those specifically, but that’s...anyhow, I know it can be kind of stressing. We aren’t here to hurt you,” I say.

The dark spikes slowly retract back into the pod and then the pod opens a little more. “You’re not?” A mare’s voice comes from it. The voice sounds oddly calm considering what it just did and that we are strangers. But, maybe that’s just something caused by whatever Project Chimera did.

“No, we are actually here to help. If you want it. A lot has happened since you were put in there. The war is over, and well...why don’t you come out of there and we can talk?” I suggest. She’s silent for a while, but then the pod opens fully a solid black mass crawls out of it and onto the floor. It begins standing up and I can see it taking the shape of a pony. However it lacks eyes and any defining features. If I had to explain its appearance, I would say it appears as a silhouette of a pony.

It moves its head to look at the three of us and then says, “I’m Umbra.” When she speaks, her mouth moves. But inside is nothing but darkness. I can’t make out teeth, a tongue, or a throat. Saying that it is unsettling is an understatement and I suppress a shudder.

“I’m Ratchet,” I respond. “And these two are Cora and Twinkle,” I say, gesturing to the two of them in turn. “It is nice to meet you, Umbra.”

Umbra stares at me for a moment then says, “Ratchet, a Head Researcher of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, frozen before the war and awoken after the end. Cora, Combat Operations and Research Assistant, an AI based on Ratchet’s own personality. And Twinkle, an Elder of the Steel Rangers and the only surviving member of Stable 36. It is nice to meet you all.” A shiver runs through my entire body.

“H-How do you know all that?” I ask her, looking at Cora and Twinkle. I wish I could see their expressions to confirm that I’m not the only one freaked out right now. Then I see it, darker shadows connecting the three of us to Umbra. “Dr. Trueblood’s theory, so it is true?” I mutter.

Even though I don’t say it too loudly, Umbra either hears me or can tell I said it because we are connected. “Indeed. I have no reason to hide this fact from you. I can tell you are telling the truth. You want to help me. But…” Umbra trails off and appears to frown. Though, it is hard to tell considering she has no features.

“I understand,” Umbra says with a nod. “Ratchet, Cora, before we go, there is something in the observation room I need the two of you to get. There are two terminals in the room that need to be accessed simultaneously. Only you have access, Ratchet.” She tells us.

I look over to the room then back at her. It doesn’t seem like she’s trying to pull anything, but we should be careful. “Let’s go Cora,” I tell her and we walk over to the room.

“Thank you both,” Umbra says with a hint of happiness in her voice. “I’m glad I’ll finally be able to leave here after so long. I was created to be a weapon, but that’s not what I was born. I know who I once was from the memories of other. Though only through their memories of the pony I once was,” She tells us as Cora and I reach the doorway.

“But I am not myself. I am something completely different now. I am a being that knows who they are, but has no memories of who they are,” Umbra says as we enter the room. “This knowledge is a poison to me,” She says.

I look around the observation room and don’t see any terminals. I feel my blood run cold as I turn back around just as one of Umbra’s spikes strikes the door’s controls, sealing them closed. “Umbra! What are you doing!?” I shout, pounding on the door and trying to get it open.

“I am doing what Twinkle and I both want,” Umbra announces. “Twinkle thinks she cannot die but wants to. Yet she will only accept death through combat. I am a monster created to kill. A monster whose knowledge of what they were and what they became horrifies them. Like Twinkle, I want to die,” She says.

“I cannot take the horrible thing I have become. The only reason I resemble a pony right now, is because I will it to be so. So if I can die and return to Celestia and Luna as a pony, that is all that I want,” Umbra tells me.

“I understand you, Umbra,” Twinkle tells her, raising her guns. “A fight to the death then? Are you ready?” She asks.

“Stop this! Both of you! Why do you need to kill each other?” I shout, pulling out Forgiveness and shooting at the glass. But the bullets do nothing to the reinforced glass and not even Cora bucking it causes it to break.

“This isn’t about killing each other, Ratchet,” Umbra says. “This is about finding peace.” She nods to Twinkle who then begins firing her miniguns.

Umbra wastes no time either, sending out numerous spikes to impale Twinkle. Twinkle and Umbra dodge each other as they attempt to kill their opponent. They both want to die, but refuse to let themselves be killed. But from Umbra’s words, I doubt she would mind letting herself be killed. Since she knows Twinkle’s thoughts, she knows what Twinkle wants. That is why she is fighting back.

Twinkle dodges one of Umbra’s attacks and lands in one of the few places in the room bathed in light. Umbra sends a spike for Twinkle’s head, but as soon as the spike meets the light it disintegrates and Umbra lets out a horrible scream, all of her spikes recoiling back into her. Twinkle stops her assault and looks around, looking at the lights in the middle of their battlefield.

“I see. It is like that file said, you can’t enter the light from the UV lights. Well then,” Twinkle says, a points her guns at the ceiling. She destroys the lights one by one until only the outer lights remain, building the two of them an arena of darkness. The remaining lights are enough to illuminate the room, but now Umbra is unhindered.

Cora and I do not stop pounding on the glass and yelling for the two of them to stop, but neither the glass nor the two of them yield to us. After a few minutes we stop trying to break the glass and instead watch them as we attempt to talk them out of fighting. But our words fall on deaf ears as the two of them continue their dance of death.

Without the light hindering Umbra, her assault doubles, keeping Twinkle moving. Twinkle has landed numerous hits on Umbra, but Twinkle herself remains unscratched. Seeing her fighting before my own eyes, it is almost as if a miracle is taking place around her, keeping her safe from Umbra’s attacks. Umbra’s movements are getting slower and her attacks seem to be getting more and more desperate.

After one particular flurry of attacks, Umbra retracts all her spikes and seems to shrink in size. A moment later, dozens of spikes lash out in a cluster towards Twinkle. The large mass of spikes is heading straight towards the her and she doesn’t have time to dodge. Somehow, most of the spikes miss her, but a few of them catch her in the helmet, shredding through the metal and revealing Twinkle grinning like a madpony.

The impact of the spikes causes her to slide to the right and I see a trail of blood splash on the floor. Once she steadies herself, she starts laughing. “You can do it Umbra! You can kill me!” Twinkle shouts.

But Umbra looks taken aback. “Something protects you, Twinkle. My attacks are curving away from you, and I can’t curve them. The weakness of this protection seems to be large concentrated attacks, things too big to simply move aside,” Umbra tells her.

Twinkle chuckles. “Heh, good to know. If you can’t kill me, at least I know what kind of thing will do the trick later,” Twinkle says with a smirk.

Umbra shakes her head. “I just thought you might want to know more about what protects you. Sadly, I don’t know the cause. We will both die here,” She says as her most recent attack absorbs back into her form. Umbra shrinks, more than before. Her form also seems to flatten out onto the floor and the center of the room where they are fighting grows darker.

Twinkle continues to shoot her miniguns at the floor where Umbra is at until, in one fluid action, innumerable spikes fill the room. The spikes pierce in every direction filling almost every inch of the room. The glass we are looking through takes the impact of hundreds of the spikes and cracks from the impact. As the spikes retract, the glass falls forward into the room.

Cora and I quickly climb through the window and into the room to stop the two from continuing, but as the spikes continue to retract it is horrifically obvious that the fight is already over. As they retract, the spikes drag Twinkle across the floor with them. She is suspended in the air in some sort of leap by at least ten of the spikes.

Her legs, body, and even part of her muzzle has been stabbed by the spikes through her armor. After being dragged back to the original location of Umbra, the spikes carefully set Twinkle on the ground and pull themselves from her body.

“Twinkle!” Cora and I shout in unison and run over to her. Umbra reforms standing over her, her own body quivering more than usual and shadows seeming to fall off of her onto the ground. I quickly fish out a healing potion from my bags and am about to pour it down Twinkle’s throat when one of Umbra’s spikes impacts the floor between the potion and Twinkle.

“What are you doing!?” I yell. “Twinkle needs help now, or she is going to die!”

“I know,” Umbra tells me as her body falls into a blob on the floor and then reforms into a pony laying down.

Twinkle coughs up some blood and looks over the three of us. “Thank you. All of you. Ratchet and Cora for your concern and all you have done for me. And Umbra, thank you for showing me that I can die,” She tells us.

“Don’t talk like that!” I tell her as tears begin to fall from my eyes. “We can save you, just drink a few potions and you’ll be good as new!” I say, holding three of them in my magic.

Twinkle shakes her head slightly and says, “I’m going to see Lord Eberron. Ratchet, I know you want me to stick around, but I’m so tired.” Tears begin to fall from her eyes. “I’ve wanted to die for so long, to see my comrades again...and now I’ll be able to. Thanks to the three of you,” Twinkle says, her voice getting quieter.

I sniff. “No Twinkle...Thank you. You’ve done so much...thank you for everything,” I tell her.

She chuckles lightly and then sucks in a large breath. “Ratchet, help the Wasteland. I know...I know you will...you’re stronger than...you think,” Twinkle says, and then closes her eyes. “Take...care of...her…Cora,” Twinkle mutters almost inaudibly and then she grows still.

“Twinkle...Twinkle...No...no...not like this…” I mutter as my eyes quiver and tears stream down from them.

“Ratchet,” Umbra says, turning her face up to look at me. “There is one last thing I need you to do,” She tells me.

“I...I’ll save you,” I tell her. “If not Twinkle, then you. You’re not too badly hurt, right? I...I can’t tell.”

“Ratchet…” Umbra mutters sadly. “I know how hard it is for you. All of this, seeing good ponies die. I am sorry I have to do this to you, but it was what Twinkle wanted. And now…I need your Forgiveness,” She tells me.

I stare at her as my tears continue to fall and press my lips together hard. “I don’t agree with what you did, but I understand why you did it. So I will forgive you,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean. I’m bleeding out, it will take a few minutes, and it hurts like hell. Potions don’t work on me and even if they did, I don’t want to be saved. I mean that I want Forgiveness, your gun. Shoot me, end my suffering. Send me to the afterlife where I might find some peace from the knowledge I possess,” Umbra says.

“You can do it, Ratchet,” Umbra tells me. “Do you know what I think? Why you can’t hit targets with guns? Why you named that gun Forgiveness and keep it with you? You’re not meant to kill, and neither is that gun,” She says.

Something resembling a smile spreads across her face. “You are meant to help ponies and to forgive them. I saw your memories. You might not have realized it, but once you named that revolver Forgiveness, you never killed anyone with it who you didn’t forgive. Shrill is the only one who you’ve killed with it after naming it. It is also why you couldn’t shoot Doctor Hearty with it in cold blood and could shoot Mr. Tenpony, despite the revolver not being named back then,” She tells me.

I furrow my brow and think back to every fight I got into after naming Forgiveness. There were times I shot ponies, but not lethally. I also came close to killing some with it, but somehow they avoided a killing blow only to get killed some other way.

“Perhaps the gun has some latent magic in it that prevents its owner from killing ponies unless they are forgiven first. It is just my theory on the subject. But you are a scientist Ratchet. A thinker not a killer. You are kind, intelligent, and so much more than I was,” Umbra tells me. “In fact, let’s test this theory. You forgive me, so the condition should be met for you to be able to shoot me. You also can’t hit a target from far away. Go to the other side of the room and shoot me. If you hit me, my theory is correct. If you miss, I am wrong and I will allow you to help me try and survive,” She says.

Umbra chuckles. “You won’t. Because you know that I’ll be able to tell if you do. So stand up, Ratchet. Draw Forgiveness and put me down,” She tells me.

“But we could do so much good together! With your help, we could help the wasteland together!” I beg her.

She just shakes her head. “I’m not a tool to help, I am a tool of destruction. That is all. I didn’t want to tell you about the pony I was, but since you are so resistant to finishing me off, I will do so,” Umbra tells me.

She lets out a sigh and continues. “My name was Clarity. I worked as a nurse at the Fluttershy Medical Clinic and I was a serial killer,” Umbra tells me, causing me to gasp. “I would give ponies lethal doses of drugs on purpose to kill them. They were scum, ponies who deserved to die, but I was a killer none-the-less. At first. Towards the end, I began killing anyone I didn’t like.”

“Once I learned that and knowing what I am now...I began to fear that should my memories ever come back I might start killing ponies again,” Umbra confesses. “That is why I want you to kill me. While I am not a murderer, while I am a sane and reasonable...thing,” She mutters. “Please.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes and rise to my hooves. “Ratchet?” Cora asks in concern. I look over to her and shake my head.

“I’m fine,” I tell her. Then look at Umbra. “I’ll test out your theory. But if I miss, I will save you,” I tell her. She smiles at me as I walk across the room and draw Forgiveness. “Umbra, no matter what happens here, I’m glad that I met you,” I tell her.

“And I you, Ratchet, Cora,” Umbra replies. I raise Forgiveness and level it at Umbra. Then I pull the trigger and send a bullet right between her eyes. Despite the distance, it hit as if I was standing right next to her. Her body jerks and collapses into a blob of shadows. Then, slowly, it begins to disappear. Soon nothing is left of her body but bones and a small crystal. Before I can look more closely at it, the crystal turns to dust.

I let out a long sigh as Cora walks over to me. “It looks like her theory was correct,” I mutter. “One shot was all it took and it killed her instantly. Maybe I am meant to forgive ponies who need it. Tenpony, Shrill, Twinkle, Umbra. They all wanted to or needed to die. I wonder if I would have been able to kill Twinkle,” I say offhandedly.

“Ratchet...I don’t think you could have killed Twinkle. You didn’t understand why she wanted to die,” Cora tells me. “Tenpony was gone, Shrill was insane, and Umbra wanted repentance. But Twinkle...You didn’t understand. The Wasteland broke her and she had nothing left, no one left. I tried to help her, but I am just an AI. Without her friends...without you she was lost,” She says.

I’m about to reply, but she continues. “Twenty-five years, Ratchet. You were gone for Twenty-five years. For me, that’s nothing. For Twinkle, that was half of her life. And she spent more than a fifth of it alone once the other Rangers died,” She tells me.

“I made a friend, Ratchet. You remember me mentioning someone else was hijacking spritebots, right? That’s him. He goes around telling ponies to make friends. To help each other. Twinkle is an example of what happens when ponies don’t make friends. When they live alone in the wasteland,” She says sadly.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I ask her. “Are you lecturing me or trying to comfort me?” Confusion builds up in me.

“Eventually, without anyone to lean on, the Wasteland will win. In the twenty-five years you’ve been asleep, I’ve wandered the Wasteland. Seen it change and met so many ponies. Ratchet, the Wasteland is getting worse. Ponies are forgetting what is was like before the war,” Her voice sounds so sad. I’m sure if she could cry, she would be.

“And that is why, when we get back to the lab, you’re going to get into the pod again,” She tells me. I try to speak up in protest and confusion, but she raises a hoof to silence me. “The longer you’re exposed to it, the sooner it will break you. Ratchet, you can’t break. I need you, the wasteland needs you. But, you can’t wander aimlessly,” She tells me.

“But...you just said your friend tells ponies to make friends. How can I make friends if I stay frozen for decades at a time?” I ask her.

“The other pods, Ratchet. If you free someone who is good, and kind, you can make friends with them, and when the time comes, freeze them again. I think even Grimoire will be your friend, once we free him,” Cora tells me.

She shakes her head. “I’m an AI, I don’t get lonely. A few decade to you is like a year to me. Besides, I have my one friend, and I’m about to start looking for more,” She replies.

I furrow my brows and look over at Twinkle’s body and Umbra’s bones. “We will talk about this later, but now, let’s get out of here and give the two of them a proper burial,” I tell her. She nods. “Can you carry Twinkle? I’ll gather Umbra’s remains.”

Once I finish putting Umbra’s bones in my bags, Cora and I leave the facility and start back to the lab.

===~+~===

Two fresh graves are made outside of the entrance to my lab. Cora and I bow our heads in respect and offer our farewells to two good ponies who shouldn’t have had to die. I end up crying again as we do so, but get myself under control while Cora comforts me.

As Cora and I enter the lab again, a thought occurs to me. “Say Cora, while I’m awake and all, why don’t we go say hello to Cygnus? I’m sure he’s been lonely,” I say with a smile. I wonder how much he has aged now. He’d have to be in his forties by now.

Cora’s head lowers and she mutters, “Cygnus is dead, Ratchet.” My eyes go wide as I stare at her. My mouth hangs open in disbelief. Then I start to chuckle.

“Good one Cora, but seriously. Let’s go see him,” I say with a tense smile. My throat seizes up and I feel something warm on my cheeks.

Cora looks up at me. “Ratchet...I’m sorry. But he’s...he’s gone,” She says quietly.

“No,” I state simply. “He can’t be dead. I refuse to believe it,” I say, shaking my head as my voice quivers.

“Ratchet…” Cora says sadly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you earlier…”

“No...no...no…” I cry and fall to the floor. I look up at Cora with shaky eyes. “All our friends...are gone?” I mutter out the question. Cora nods slowly. “How...when did he…?” I trail off, unable to continue.

Anger flashes inside me. “Why didn’t you wake me up!?” I shout. “What is wrong with you!?”

“He said...he wasn’t important enough to waste waking you up. He didn’t want you to witness the death of another friend,” She tells me.

“He...He thought I would want to find out like this instead?” I say mutely. Cora doesn’t say anything, just lowers her head further. “How did he...die?” I ask her.

“What? But he should only be in his late forties at the most,” I tell her, but suddenly remember. “His accelerated growth…” I mutter. Cora nods. We sit in silence for a while, with only my sobs filling it.

When I finally get it together, Cora tells me, “The last time I went to see him, he wanted me to tell you something. ‘Thank you for waking me up,’ he said.”

I sniff and rub my eyes. “Thank you Cora. Sorry for getting mad at you. You were just doing what he told you,” I apologize.

Cora shakes her head. “I understand. Oh, and don’t worry about Grimoire. Cygnus sealed the stairs down to that level before he died. Without some extensive excavation, no one will find him,” She tells me.

I laugh slightly at that. “Of course he did. He was a good pony, Cora,” I say sadly.

After a few more minutes of wallowing in sadness, I finally get up to my hooves. “Prepare the pod, Cora. I’m going to make an entry on my terminal and then I’ll be going back in,” I tell her.

I let out a shaky sigh and then make my way to my office. Once there, I begin the entry of what happened these last few days. As I’m about to finish up, Cora’s voice comes over the speakers in the room.

“Alright, I’ll be right there,” I reply. I finish the entry and turn off the terminal. Then I walk to the pod chamber. I take a deep breath as I enter the chamber.

“Yea, I haven’t eaten since we got back, so I should be fine,” I reply. “Oh, Cora. One other thing. You said I need to make friends, and that we might need to freeze them like me. I was thinking...do you think you could somehow manage to get Umbra’s stasis pod here to the lab and figure out how it works?” I ask her. “It would be kind of inconvenient if it is so far away.”

“Huh? I suppose I can try,” She tells me. “I can ask the scavengers for some help. I’m sure they’ll agree if I let them take everything else from the facility.”

“Ok,” I say with a nod. I approach the pod, and then turn to face the camera in the room. “Cora, take care of yourself,” I tell her.

Fallout Equestria: Icicle

by PlagenShiki

Chapter 28 - The Faded Star