There is no mercy within me, ponykind, but there is reason.
I could feel my jaw slacken and my eyes widen in utter shock at the sight. It wasn’t the fact that I was looking at a living legend in front of me, that wasn’t what shocked me. What got to me was that this was an alicorn like me, not one of those false ones I had a run in with. Shaking my head, I began to form the question on my mind, “You're Sol?”
“Yes, I understand that you must both be surprised at my appearance,” Sol said calmly, her voice coming out as a refined lady. She even gave a bow, “And you must be the shadow, my opposite. The Princess Nyx.”
“I prefer to be a knight,” I said, staring down the alicorn, trying to see for her method of attack.
She gave a small snort of disbelief, “Ah yes, your little nobility streak, how worthless. You have the power of a god and you squander it here by helping ponies.”
“What’s wrong with that” I asked.
“Simple,” Sol said, looking back at the burning church and then down at the pony at her feet, “These ponies do not deserve such mercy from you. They deserve to burn in hellfire and be bent over to serve as stepping stones for the gods like us.”
“Not true,” I rebutted, walked into her side, “These ponies just need to be-”
“Burned and slaughtered,” Sol said with a scary bit of calmness in her voice.”Look at this place: Raiders, slavers, warlords, rapists, and other sinners that need to be torn apart by the strong in this world.”
“No, they don’t! I won’t lie, that there are monsters here, but they are still living creatures. Yes, they can do wrong, but all they need a light to show them that there is something better,” I argued.
Sol chuckled at this, “You really believe that? With all that you have seen, you believe that?! Look around, Equestria was never meant to be this paradise of harmony and love. The ponies had a chance for that, and what did they do? They washed it all away in a baptism of hell fire and devastation. That is what I am here for, to lead ponies away from your lies.”
“I’m not telling ponies-”
“The truth is, Equestria is meant to be in a state of chaos, where the weak lay there crying out for mercy and the strong force their will on others. We are not meant to be in cities and groups, but in fear and alone,” Sol walked a few steps ahead, “And yet, I see them trying to rebuild what they have destroyed and it makes me sick.”
It was this point, I noticed her sword at her side, “You’re a swordsman?”
“Yes, my sword Hell Dawn,” Sol said, looking at her sword. “It’s what I like to use to bring my message to the ponies.”
“And the Children of Nightmare?” I asked.
“A means to an end, a worthless one. I have found some better ways to spread my message, ones that don’t involve these weaklings.” Sol said walking away from the two of us. With a smirk, she looked over her shoulder at us, “If you wish to see why your little ideals can be so easily broken and why ponies deserve to submit to our will, come to Vanhoover. I will be waiting.” And with that, she vanished.
As I growled and made an attempt to chase her, I heard Swift from behind me breath out, “So, Sol... she exists?”
I stopped and looked at him“Scared?” I asked with a chuckle.
Swift shook his head, “Excited, actually. All of this time, I didn’t think that there was a being like Sol in this world. That all of the good monsters had been slain by now. And here we are, a powerful foe, just waiting for us.” walking a few feet ahead of me, he asked, “Shall we go?”
“Well, she did invite us,” I smiled, before looking at the burning church. “And I want to make her pay for what she had done here.”
It took us a day to help put out the fire and bury the bodies, not wanting the fire to hurt any innocent ponies that might be left. With our job done, we began to travel towards Vanhoover, the journey taking about two days. We decided not to fly, mainly because we wanted to rest our wings for a moment and I still wanted to keep my alicornhood a secret. With a light trot, our journey took us across dusty plains and through some low running hills.
There was something unusual about our journey now. I could almost see the faint trace of a smile on Swift’s face as he walked ahead of me. The idea of fighting a godling like myself must have been exciting. Me? I was too busy thinking of where did Sol come from, and who made her. Was she born, like Flurry Heart, or was she created by magic and blood like myself. And if she was born, then who was her mother and father?
Occasionally, in between my thoughts, I would look up to watch as Swift moved, noting his flank. Quickly, I tried to ignore it and focus on my journey. Not that he made it easy to ignore.
After a few hours of traveling, we came across a river that was moving too fast for us to tread, “Fly?” asked Swift as he looked to me.
“Why?” I asked, pointing to a nearby bridge. “Here is a really nice bridge right here. We just need to-”
As I crossed it, I was blocked by a bo staff, :”Now, you guys weren’t really thinking of cross my bridge, were ya?” said a mare dressed in a bunch of random junk, her spiky mane standing in a mohawk.
“Raider,” growled Swift as he looked at the mare.
The yellow unicorn smirked as she spun her staff in a circle, “Guilty. Though traveling alone nowadays. Like catching helpless ponies and making them pay to cross this little bridge of mine. Ponies like you.”
I cocked my head to the side, “Look at us, do we look weak to you?”
The mare laughed, her barding hiding her cutie mark, “What? Two ponies walking around with some toothpicks and i’m supposed to be scared. I have beaten ponies that had gats and rocket launchers and stole their hides. You think that I am afraid of a unicorn and her boy toy?”
“He’s my friend, not my toy,” I denied.
She rolled her eyes,”Whatevs. Look, you want pass this bridge, then beat me. If you win, I will let you by. And when I win-”
“You get my barding and some caps,” I said, looking at her.
“Deal,” said the mare as she spun her staff around, “And I get to defeather the buck over there. No offense, sexy, but I kind of want to look like an alicorn.”
“Kick her ass,” Swift said. I merel nodded and walked up to her. Reaching for my sword with my magic, I attempted to draw my blade, but the mare stuck my neck with her staff and then hit me in the back of my head.
The raider danced around me, “Oh come on, think that it will be so easy to win? Have to be faster on the draw than that.”
Backing up, I began to draw my sword, only this time blocking with my sheath and then striking back with the hilt. Once my sword was out, I promptly... got hit on the head and throat by the raider.
As I got a chance to reorient myself, I watched as the mare began to dance around me like a monkey, laughing and sneering at me. With a frown, I slashed at her, but she blocked me. Our fight then began in earnest as we struck and parried each other blows. I was becoming more and more shocked at the speed at which she could pull off her moves. Letting out a gasp. I barely had a chance to duck under the swipe of her sta#ff. This left me open for a strike at my legs, sending me to the ground.
As I lay prone, my sword slashed at her leg, making her jump into the air. A smirk came to my lips as I calculated her landing and froze the spot, turning it onto ice. The confidence left my face when I watched her land on top of the pole at it stood straight up and down. One hoof rested on top of her staff as she looked back at me with a smug look.
Before I had time to react, she learn off the staff, spun in it in a circle in mid air and slammed it into my back. Groaning in pain, I rolled out of the way, getting to my hooves and striking back with a few slashes. With a dancer's grace, she began to move away from my slashes while I stood back up.
Quickly I chased at her, determined to thrust my blade into her leg. Smirking in confidence at my move, she easily knocked my sword into the air and then tripped me up to slam me into the ground. She held the staff to my thrust and smiled, “Give up?”
“Just one question. The rules of our fight were that if you won, you get my armor and if I win, I pass the bridge.
“Yeah?” She said
I smirked, “We never did say that this was one on one.”
“What do you mean by-” before she could even finish, Swift was on the other side, using his wings to blow some of the water and dust at her. This blinded her long enough for me to use my free hoof to punch hard in the side of the face and send her flying over the railing of the bridge and into the water. As I slowly got up, I could hear the raider screaming, “Help, I can’t swim!”
Swift leaned against the railing and looked down at our former opponent, “You fight on a bridge and swimming lessons never came to you?”
“FUCK OFF!” she shouted, while I used my magic to gently pull her out of the water and land her next to use. With a kind smile I gave her some rad-away to help with the effect of rad poisoning.
“Well, it looks like I won,” I smirked. “Sorry about the cheating bit, but I had to use what I could to win.”
The raider waved me off with a hoof, “Hey, it’s all right. I would’ve done the same. It’s kind of tricky of you to be honest.”
I shrugged, “One of the things first I learned was to use what I had to my advantage. Fighting without using your brains is a fool's tactic was what my mom told me once.”
“Your Mom’s pretty smart. Certainly helped to kick my ass,” the raid said, leaning back against the bridge.
I sat down, and pull out a Sparkle cola, “Don’t sell yourself short. You had plenty of skill too. If I didn’t have Swift, you would’ve had my butt.”
“Because you swordsponies are all alike. You get too overconfident with that sword, so when somepony like me comes along, you can’t cope!” she said brushing her hoof to the side.
“Or maybe I’m just not insane enough,” I said with a smile.
“Insanity and creativity are rarely different things ya know,” the raider snickered.
“Ah, so you are insane,” I smirked, and this brought out a laugh from the raider.
“And proud of it!” she cheered.
“And that is why, I want you to come with us,” I said, getting to my feet.
“Excuse me? Didn’t you get the memo? Raider, scum of the Wasteland, and a piece of shit. I would just cut your coat off while I rape your boytoy here,” the raider said with a grin.
“But, if you come with, I can guarantee you a much more fun time than hanging around here,” I said. “And you live for fun, right?”
The raider gave a frustrated groan, “You’re right, I am. And, I wouldn’t mind getting out and stretching my hooves for a bit. Fine, I’m in. but I get dibs on the kills and and caps we get out there. Deal?”
“Deal,” I said, walking ahead.
“ Oh, and I get one make-out session with your boy toy!” The raider said.
“His name is Swift blade, and he isn’t my boy-toy. Furthermore,” I turned and held out a hoof, “The name is Nyx Sparkle, please to meet you.”
“Saw-Blade,” she said, high hoofing me.
With our new friend in tow, it didn’t take us all that long to reach a hill that overlooked Vanhoover. As I looked at the desolate city, with many of its buildings crumbling and some of the roads torn, my mind was feeling very hurt and very sad. Mainly because I knew what I was feeling was different from what my two companions were. For them, this was just another in a long line of broken cities, me? I don’t ever remember visiting this town a all.
I mentally kicked myself for not having visited this place before. I wanted to have a memory of this place that wasn’t associated with what the Wastes had turned this city into. I knew there were ponies here, and ones that probably had a great life, and now all that is left are ruins. And all I can think of is how this place is, instead of what it once was.
Snapping me out of my thoughts was Swift, “What do you think Sol wanted us to see?”
“Whoa, hold on!” shouted Saw. “Sol, as in the fire demon is real and you met her and now we are walking to her doorstep?”
“Yes,” Swift said calmly.
Saw gave a shout of triumph as she hugged, me, “ I love you guys! I should’ve been hanging out with suicidal jerks like you a long time ago. Come on, dibs on the murdering!”
“We’re not here to murder indiscriminately,!” I shouted as I watched her run ahead of us.
“And you told her to come with us,” Swift said, smirking.
With a growl, I muttered, “We might need her.” and with that, I walked down the hill.
As we entered the barren city, I began to wonder to myself if anypony from here survived. From the looks of it, it didn’t even look like it had a stable nearby or even some scavengers to wander through it. It felt like nobody had even thought about touching this place since the war.
Turning my head, I was about to say, “Guys, whatever Sol-” but I interrupted by something brown and red slamming hard into my side and slamming me through several walls. Before I had a chance to recover and get to my feet, whatever it was that slammed into me his me again, piercing my side with its tusks and throwing me through another wall.
Panting, I slowly got up in spite of my pain, the blood dripping from the holds in my side. Taking a quick look, I gasped in shock at what I was seeing. Though it had a pony’s body, its coat and head were unmistakably boarish/ It even had two tusks jutting out the side of its mouth, “A... Boar and a Pony? A Bony?” I asked myself before jumping out of the way of the bony’s attack. Watching as the boar broke through the wall, I slowly drew my blade and got into a fighting stance, “Just, what are you?”
“Call me Orson! The strongest of the boars, but with the heart of a pony,” the Bony said to me, his Boarish accent thick on his lips.
“Didn’t think that Boars and Ponies could mate with one another,” I said. Pointing my blade straight forward.
Orson shrugged his shoulders, ‘My father had a unique taste. He found pony to be sexier than his own kind.” he chuckled as he looked at my extended sword, “You think you can beat me with that blade?”
“No, but it does give me a chance,” I smirked as the boar rushed as me. As he neared the edge of ,my blade, I leap into the air, charged my lighting magic and launched at the boar, making his fur light up. Landing on ground behind him, I growled, “So... it’s true, isn’t it.”
The boar snickered as he ran a hoof through his mane, “Ah, so you heard of a boar’s special magic.”
The truth was, I had saw a demonstration of such magic when I visited Canterlot once, “I had heard of it. You boars have a special magic that activates when you start charging, it makes you immune to almost any attack: You become invincible. The problem is, you need to get started.”
“And you expect one little sword is going to-AHHH!” he yelled as his hide was cut into by a pair of wing blades, followed by a staff attack.
“Geeze,” snorted Saw as she walked into the room and stood by me, “Is this going to be a thing with boars. Talking all big just to be shocked when we kick its ass?”
“A boarny,” Swift asked ad he landed next to me. “How can this be possible .”
As I looked at my two friends, I brandished my blade and smirked,”That’s what I am going to ask later, now we need to take him down.”
“Plan?” asked Swift as he looked to me. The boar was getting ready to charge.
“Boars have the power to become invincible when they start running, and this guy is an earth pony, so he already has earth pony magic to back up his strength,” I said, crouching and getting ready to jump.
“So, the idea is to trip him up?” asked saw, sneering, “Seems easy.”
“It’s not, they do know when you are about to attack, so get ready,” I said, just as the boar charged at me. In an instant, I used my wings to give me some lift and jump about twenty feet in the air. The boar turned and tried to go after Swift and Saw next, but they each quickly began to move and dodge out of the way. When I landed, I noticed that Saw was looking at me in a mix of shock and amazement.. I just smiled sheepishly in response.
As the boar turned to face me, I began to ignite my horn a golden glow. In a blinding flash, I managed to blind the boarny with my bright light. As the half-breed tried to recover, his ears tuned to where I had landed. With a roar he began his charge, only to be tripped by Saw’s staff. As he tripped, he flew into the air and soared into the sky. With a speed I don’t think I had ever seen before, Swift cut into the tendons of the boarny and sent him crashing down.
Saw stepped up next to me, “Well, that was easy. “She said, a smile on her face. “Care to tell me what was up with that jump?”
“O, uh, powerful unicorn spell,” I lied, trying to smile.
“I have been reading the wrong books,” Saw muttered, “So who is this guy?”
“He is one of us,” said a female from the shadows. Turning my head up, I looked through a hole in the roof of the building to see eleven figures standing in the shadows, “A member of the Zodiac. We’ll be taking him back now.”
Before any one of us could move, a blur that matched Rainbow Dash in speed rushed by and picked up their fallen comrade. I looked back to the shadows, “So, I guess you are the thing that Sol wanted me to see?”
“Yes,” she said, stepping into the light, showing a part of her body, her dragon scales lining her foreleg, “The Twelve Zodiac, the ones who run this town. Well, this providence. Consider this place a small sample of what Sol wants Equestria to become. What it’s true destiny is. Where the strong rule, and the harmony that you champion is dead.”
“And she thinks that this little demonstration will make me keel over? Not a chance. I will defeat you and-” I paused when I got a better look at her, “A kirin?”
The half-dragon and half-pony chuckled as she stepped out of the shadows, “Yeah, I am. Mom was a dragon who was caught in Equestria when the bombs fell. She met a pony, and well,” she lightly scratched the roof with her claws, “You can see.”
“What about your other friends” I asked.
“In time, in time. But for now, relax and meet the ponies of this town, see what we’ve done with the place,” she chuckled as they disappeared.
“So, we are now in a city full of ponies who to kill us all, a town that is in a hell hole, and I am not getting any tonight. Thanks for taking me along!” Saw-Blade shouted.