Journey
“Goodness is not a fucking blight!”
It’s quite a shock to your system when you wake up two hundred years in your future, find that everything that you have ever loved or cared about are dead, and in a world that actively wants to kill you. It is just as much of a shock to find yourself in the presence of a secret society that has taken up your mother’s name and is sworn to protect the technology within the tower. Such was the situation I found myself in as I followed the unicorn before me as he told me all about his group, “But, how do you know who I am?”
“Well, of course our society knows a lot about Twilight Sparkle and the members of her family, such as her daughter. When one of our members had caught sight of a unicorn bearing your coat and mane color, well,” he paused for a second, “we had to see if you were in fact Nyx Sparkle, and luckily, you were.”
“How did you find out?” I asked.
“Well, we have a device in here that can show magical output. We pointed it at you,” the unicorn stallion then pulled out a small grey box, and then showed it to me. As it aimed at me I could hear a clicking, not unlike a giger counter. “Only two types of ponies in the world would give off this amount of magical energy: Your mother and an alicorn. Once we saw that, we knew that it had to belong to a real alicorn and not one of those fake ones.”
Raising my head at the mention of the term ‘fake ones’ I remembered the fight with the alicorn a month ago, “I think I confronted one of them before.”
“Horrible monsters aren’t they? They disgrace the very name of the goddesses with their presence,” the member said, looking down at the ground as he walked ahead o me. Raising his head a little, the blue unicorn turned to me with a smile, “Nothing like you of course.”
“No, not at all,” I sighed, starting to realize that maybe Guiding was right, that I am probably the last alicorn on the planet. Kind of a depressing thought actually. Raising my head, I took note of his blackened book cutie mark, “Um, excuse me, Mr-”
“Dream Reader,” Dream smiled back at me.
“Dream, what does your cutie mark mean?” I asked.
“Oh, this means I have a really good aptitude for reading ponies dreams,” he smiled, obviously enjoying the idea of his special talent. As he continued to lead me through the back ways of the tower, then, with a curious look to him, he asked, “Could you do me a favor, though, and tell me how is it that the daughter of Twilight Sparkle is here now?”
“On the day that the world ended,” I said,“I watched as the missiles hit Canterlot from just inside the library in Ponyville. I was worried that Mom might have been there. I tried to go there, but... somepony hit me with a spell saying ‘No, Twilight has something planned for you.’ and as I was falling unconscious, I was taken into the basement and put into a sleep stasis spell.”
“Interesting, but who was the pony that put you there and how did your seal manage to avoid detection all of this time?” asked Dream.
“I think that my spell was covered up by a perception filter that made it almost impossible for anypony to see me unless they knew what to look for,” I said, looking at a large chamber marked ‘Celestia One.’
“Interesting,” Dream said, guiding me to a large room with a few maps. “That memory orb, did it say anything to you?”
“Yes,” I nodded, and used my magic to pull out the journal. Looking it over, I couldn’t help but admire the detail of the six gems emodiered on the cover, inside bearing the symbol of each bearer’s cutie mark. Handing it to Dream, I began to tell him about my mother’s quest, “She wants me to find out the fates of the other ministry mares.”
“Seems morbid,” Dream said, opening the book and looking through it.
I nodded, “I would agree with you, but Mom also pointed out the reason why she wants that book. It’s a memorial,” as he handed the book back to me, I stared intently at it, “she wants a biography of the bearers so that way, in the future, ponies won’t make them martyrs or worse, demonize them. The ponies of the future will see them as just ponies, just like them, warts and all. She wants them to read about her and their lives and learn from them. Their adventures, their successes, failures, mistakes, and everything else. It’s a lesson from her,” I smiled, feeling a tear running down my cheek. “Just what great things can be done when ponies work together in friendship, and what happens when friends drift apart.”
“You mother has quite a goal for you,” Dream said.
“Yeah,” I sighed, putting the book away. “I just wish I knew why she picked me. When I found Pinkie’s body, I could barely write down what happened to her. How in Tartarus am I supposed to write down about the others? What am I going to do when I find out about Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy,Rarity, or... my mother. Oh, stars, what is going to happen when I find out about my mother!?”
Almost as if he knew what to say, Dream smiled softly to me and put a hoof onto my shoulder, “Aren’t you the closest one to them? Don’t you know a lot about them? That’s why! Because she knows that you will be able to put down the truth about each one of them without sugarcoating their fates or lying about who they are. You will be able to tell the truth, and that is what she wants.” at that, I smiled softly, glad to have some words of encouragement. He then added, “So, how far have you gotten in your quest?”
“Not far,” I said, shaking my head and looking down. “The book only offered a clue to where Pinkie Pie is. The other entries end either a few months or years before the world ended, and I have no way of finding their schedules so I have nothing!”
Removing his hoof from my shoulder, the blue unicorn pointed at the large map behind him, “Well, I may have a clue that could help you. You see, sometimes we in the Twilight Society do send out members to look for technology or objects from the MAS. One of these just so happened to be found near a stable at a Ministry of Image Hub in Vanhoover. So-”
“Rarity might gone there when the bombs hit and might have went into the stable!” I exclaimed as I looked at the map and then turned away to run out, “Thank you so much, Dream.”
“You are very welcome my dear. Now if you could please keep us a secret? The society really doesn’t want to be exposed to the outside world,” Dream said to me, and to this I nodded while I ran off.
Reaching the outside of the secret passage that I was lead down, My mind began to try and figure out what I should get for my journey to the city Vanhoover; however, as my mental checklist went down the line, I quickly realized that I promised to wait for Swift Blade back at the restaurant. With a slight gasp, I took off running down the hallways of the tower until I reached the restaurant, only to discover the pegasus stallion waiting for me, “You know, I was not expecting a mare such as you being late for an appointment.”
Stopping for a few minutes, I took the time to let out a few pants, “Such as me? What do you mean?”
“They way you hold your blade, the state of your cloak and mane, the movement of your gait, and your armor give of the air of a mare who is very punctual. Like to study as soon as possible, and then wonders why others can’t catch up. You also have this tendency to stay in the past and think about your life up until now,” Swift finished, walking away from me.
I stepped back a little in embarrassment, as he had me pegged right. I remember back in high school how Scootaloo would get ticked off at how easy it was for me to study a lot in the beginning and then play for a while like it was nothing. With a slow walk, I began to follow Swift through the corridors of the tower, “But, what about the whole past thing?”
“Your armor is well worn, been hit a few times by powerful weapons, but you are content with repairing it. Then, when we found the poster of the ministry mare, you spent a long time looking at it in thought. It shows that you have a deep affection for the past, or a deep personal connection,” Swift turned to look back into my draconic like eyes. “Am I wrong?”
I sighed and shook my head, “You’re good.”
“A good swords-pony needs to be observant, and take note of everything about their opponent. It’s an important lesson for anypony to learn,” Swift remarked.
“But, what about that remark about me and the past?” I asked him as we went into the corridor that led to his room.
“When we were at the terminal, you were spending a few more minutes than necessary to look at the Ministry Mare. This leads me to think about two possible conclusions, either you have a personal connection to her or you have a love of the past. Either way, you demonstrated through actions and not appearance,” Swift said, not showing his smirk.
I stood there in shock for a few moments, before shaking it off with a twist of my head. I didn’t think a pony like this could so easily deduce so much about me, “Oh!” I said, suddenly remembering my manners. “Thank you for letting me stay here with you tonight.”
“You are welcome,” he said calmly. “But it was a necessity. They normally don’t allow non-citizens to live in Tenpony Tower, and you look like you needed a room for the night.”
“You’re a citizen here?” I asked him as he opened the door to his room with a key card.
“Of a sort,” he replied as he led me into the room. “Since I find most of my jobs in here, I figured this was the best place to hold out in.”
As he turned on the light, my eyes quickly took in the sight of the room. Sparse would be complimenting it, as there was little in the way of much furniture in the small two room apartment. There was a small sofa and a bed near a radio on a nightstand, but that was it. Walking in and taking a bigger look, I noticed that the bed was facing a small fridge and the other room led to a modest bathroom. With a few short steps, I made my way to the fridge and opened it to take out what was inside, “Hmmm, Sparkle cola and...Sparkle Cola rad?” Memories flooded my mind of the creator of the drink and his insane ideas. I actually went to school with the stallion and he always was a little nutty. Chuckling lightly at my thoughts, I pulled out the soda and laid on the bed, “You said you found jobs here, are you sure that you are not a mercenary.”
“Mercenaries do their jobs for caps, I don’t,” Swift pointed out, opening the fridge and opening his own bottle of Sparkle cola with the tip o his wingblade. “I am more of what you might call,” he paused, as if thinking of the right word, “a freelance bodyguard. I find ponies in need of protection, or in need of assistance, and I go and help them.”
“So, you’re a wanderer?” I asked, drinking my cola.
“That sounds like an appropriate title,” he remarked, watching as I pulled out the journal. “Trying to write something down?”
I sighed, “Yeah, in this book. I’ve been tasked with writing the fates of the Ministry Mares, but ever since I found out what happened to Pinkie-” I began to stutter a little, “I-I-I just can’t figure out what to write. It’s just so hard to do.”
Putting a comforting hoof onto my shoulder, I could hear Swift say, “Just think about how she would want to be remembered. Think of what she would want the ponies who read that to remember her.”
“I could try, thanks,” I said as I watched him head to the shower. As he walked into the shower, I removed my armor and cloak, then quickly got into the bed with the covers over my wings. I then took the journal from my saddlebag and began to stare at the blank page where I was to place Pinkie’s final fate. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I began to think of everything I could of my aunt. My mind set forth trying to arrange a good eulogy...
No, wait!
I had been treating the book in the wrong way, like a eulogy for dead friends while this is supposed to be a memorial to each one. Their deaths, their final days were just meant to be a sort of closure on their lives, like the ending of a story. What Mom wanted was for those deaths to mean something, and so, with a smile, I began to write-
In the end, though Pinkie Pie found herself trapped in a world of drugs and addiction, she was able to still be her element, Laughter. Near the end of her life, when confronted by the fact that her dearest friend was no longer smiling, she decided to change for the better just to get Twilight Sparkle to smile once more. When she had died, she found herself filled with what her element also represented: The element of hope. Hope that she could see her friend again, hope that she would be cured, and hope that the war could end. This spirit never left her even as the fires of the first Balefire bomb consumed her. The moral of her story, and what we should take from it, is one of remembering to stay true to your virtue and friends. Don’t fall into the depths of poison and always strive to keep a smile on your face. This brings out a bright light of laughter in not only you, but the ones around you as well.
As I pulled the pen away from the book, I couldn’t help but feel strangely satisfied with my work. Although I think the paragraph might do with a few more words and maybe a little proofreading but as it was now, I found it to be perfect. A nice way to start a book about somepony that was dear to me.
Igniting my horn, I used my magic to lift up the book and put it away in my saddle bag. Then I stretched my limbs, letting out some moans as I could hear some pops in my muscles. Turning my head, I watched as Swift come out of the shower, “So, did you figure out what to write?”
With a groan as I raised my rump, I nodded in response, “Yeah, once I followed your advice, writing it down became a little easier.”
“Good,” Swift said, walking to his couch. “Now, tomorrow, we can discuss where you are going to next.”
“Yeah,” I said, giving out a yawn. Turning my head to the window, I couldn’t help but feel a little down that I couldn’t see the moon. Seeing the moonlight would’ve been a perfect way to end the day and the completion of at least one part of my quest. Laying my head down on the pillow, I couldn’t help but smile and hope that maybe I won’t be going on this quest alone.
My chest is on fire as I run into the hospital, tears filled my eyes as I ran to the nurse’s station, “Trueheart, where is she? Where’s-?”
“She’s in the ER right now,” the brown maned nurse said, walking away from her desk. “You can wait in the lobby with the others.”
I gulped, feeling a cold shudder go down my spine. Shaking my head, I told her, “No, I couldn’t!”
“They would want to see you,” Trueheart said, nodding her head to the waiting room.
With a heavy sigh, I nodded in defeat and walked through the white corridor into the waiting room. Turning my head to the sound of crying, I watched as a white unicorn mare began to cry hard onto a purple unicorn’s shoulder, “Oh, Nyx! I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Mom, R-Rarity I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling the tear run down my cheeks, walking slowly towards them. As I saw Rarity turn to me, I braced myself for the worst insults that she could ever lay onto me. But, instead, I felt her hug me as well.
“Nyx, it's not your fault, dear,” Rarity cried onto my shoulder, rubbing my back. “It was just a training accident. I know you would never hurt Sweetie Belle on purpose.”
“But it was my fault!” I began to cry hard, “I should never have agreed to it. I should’ve held back more, I shou-”
My mother’s embrace interrupted my crying, “Nyx, it’s not your fault! You wanted to try your new spell, but it failed. It happens to us all Nyx, we just need to learn to pick ourselves up after our mistakes and fix them.”
“But Sweetie-”
“Is going to be all right,” the doctor said, coming out of the emergency doors. “She just suffered some bad burns on her right side and a little cracking of the horn, but she will pull through. She just needs to hold back on magic for a few weeks and her coat will regrow soon,” he sighed shook his head. “I just wish I could do more. I heard that the zebras have healing potions that can help wounds like that in an instant, but, with the way things have been getting...” he shook his head and sighed, “Your friend is currently in ICU, resting. Only one or two of you can be allowed in.”
I barely registered what he had said as I trotted off towards the hallway marked Intensive Care. Once there, my hooves carried me past door after door until I found the right one and quickly went past the doorway. My heart sank as I saw the sight of one of my best friends, the filly who ventured through an evil castle just to cheer me up, lying on the bed with an IV drip on her left side. Gazing past the monitors and graphs that read out her life signs, I saw her right side and felt tears running down my face again. My sobs were muted out by the low beeping from the machines as I tried to get over how much of Sweetie’s right side was in a cast or at the crack in her horn that ran down the tip to the base. Tearfully, I ran to be at my friend’s bedside and placed my head on the soft mattress,” Oh, Sweetie Belle, I am so so sorry. This was all my fault. I just wanted to show off a little, because I was so proud of my new spell. I just wanted to show you what I could do, and I got careless, and now you’re hurt because of me. I’m so sorry, this is all my fault,” I feel myself shake with each sob.
“I promise you, I’ll never let this happen again,” I whispered, “I will never use a spell any stronger than a basic fire or ice spell. The only exception will be my lighting magic, which I know I can control.”
“And this is where you fail,” boomed a voice from behind me as the memory faded away to leave me in a dark void.
“This is what I chose to do, in order to protect the ponies I care about!” I yelled into the darkness.
A pair of draconic eyes appeared from the darkness, glaring at me, “ By denying our power!? Look at you, you are two-hundred and thirty eight years old! Almost a third of the age that Celestia and Luna were when they first defeated Discord, when they defeated Tir-”
“Don’t say his name!” I shouted, turning away.
“My apologies, I forgot how scared you are of him,” the voice said, sighing. “The point stands, you have more magical energy in your right hoof than most unicorns do on their twentieth summer. If you were to only tap into it, you could wrest control of the sun and moon, then rule this Wasteland as a goddess! You would be able to remind all of these inscets what it is like to live in-”
“Fear? Is that what you were going to say?” I interrupted, glowering at the voice. “I won’t, I’m not you. I will help the Wasteland in my own way, without delving into my own power.”
“Even if it costs you your life?” the voice asked, watching me nod in response, “Then you are a foal.”
“At least I’ll die living true to myself, Nightmare Moon. Now, go back into my nightmares where you belong,” I commanded.
“Oh Nyx,” Nightmare Moon said, chuckling. “By denying me, you are making it so that you will never be true to yourself.”
I sat up in the bed with a gasp, taking in the smell of something flaky, crispy, and apple scented, “Apple Fritters?”
“More appropriately, freeze dried apple fritters,” Swift said, walking into the room from the outside with a plate of the apple treat on his wings.
With a smile, I levitated the plate and lifted it to me to take a bite out of it while the stallion turned on the radio,” Good morning Wastelanders, DJPON-3 here with the morning weather report: Clouds and clouds and more clouds.”
I nearly dropped my fritter in shock as I heard the name, “D-DJPON-3? B-but how?”
“A radio tower just above us broadcasts his signal,” Swift said, eating the fritter.
“I mean, how is this possible? I would’ve thought,” I then took a few moments to listen to the DJ’s voice, quickly realizing that it was a guy voicing the role. “Oh, I get it, legacy.”
“In recent news today, we have had more mysterious disappearances around the outskirts of Vanhoover lately,” the DJ began with his newscast. “It seems some ponies are reporting families going to bed at night and waking up with their friends or loved ones vanished without a trace. Now, you and I both know it ain’t raiders, but whoever it is... they’re good! So, if you are traveling around that area, keep a watch around. And now, for something lighter, a song from Sweetie Belle dedicated to an old friend that needed the cheering up.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that song, the one she sang a few days after she had gotten out of the hospital to make me feel better about hurting her. As I listened to the song, I could hear Swift ask, “So, where are you heading?”
“Well, I have heard that there is a Ministry of Image hub in Vanhoover. I was thinking of heading there,” I said, keeping the covers on my back to hide my wings.
Swift walked to put on some barding, “Vanhoover? I haven’t been to that part of the Wasteland. I think I would like to see it.”
“You’re coming with me?” I asked, shocked. With a cock of my head, I asked, “Why?”
“A naive mare like you, with a childish notion that she can make it out there in the Wasteland without taking a life, you are going to need someone by your side,” Swift said, looking down at me as he finished suiting up.
“What, you think I can’t defend myself?” I asked, feeling a little insulted.
“Oh no,” Swift denied, shaking his head. “Your battle with the raiders earlier proved yourself to be a somewhat competent fighter... just a little naive. I may not believe in your childlike fantasy and your ideal, but, I am offering a hoof to help you, as a companion you might say.”
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s been my job to find ponies who need help, like guarding, assistance, searching, or even hunting down killers, and give them the help they need,” Swift said,“I do this for my honor. So, will you accept my help?”
A part of me wanted to tell him to take his help and shove it, after treating me like a small child. Then, as I looked into his eyes, I began to think that it might be good to have somepony on this quest with me. If not a friend, then at least somepony to make sure I’m not lonely anymore, “Ok, you can come with me.” Rolling a little on the bed, I took a look to the stallion, “Um, would you mind getting out of the room? I want to get my cloak on.”
“Why? We don’t wear clothes normally,” Swift deadpanned.
I then looked at him, a little bit of embarrassment in my voice, “I am very modest about my body and flanks. I really don’t want you to see me without my barding.”
With a growl of aggravation in his throat, Swift agreed and walked to the door, “Fine, I’ll be outside.”
As he closed the door, I rolled off the bed an streatched my wings, my magic reaching out for my armor and cloak. I then looked to the door with a sigh. I felt bad about hiding my alicorn-hood from somepony who could be my friend, but then again, I didn’t want to go around the wasteland telling everypony I meet that I am a two-hundred-and-thirty-something alicorn. Especially since alicorns are something to be feared around here.
When my cloak finished clasping together, I took a moment to look myself in my little outfit. My cloak still looked vibrant and lovely although it was a little frayed. The cloak would still serve as a great way to hide my wings a little longer. With a little smile on my lips, I took the cloak in my foreleg and covered the lower part of my jaw with it, “The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well lives again!” I then readjusted my cloak and went to the door.
“Excuse me, but what was that you were saying in there?” asked Swift, with a raised eyebrow
“Um,” I chuckled with a shy smile. “N-nothing. Come on, let’s go.”
As we headed out towards the door, I took a quick look at our saddle bags, only to hear Swift mentioning to me, “Do not worry about going to buy some provisions. I bought some for the both of us before you awoke. I got some health potions plus some food.”
“Thank,” I said with a grateful grin. Maybe having a companion on this trip will be a good thing.
After leaving Tenpony tower and the Luna line, we began our little journey through the ruins of Manehatten. The feeling of loneliness and the cold feeling that I had when I had entered the city was lessened by the presence of somepony traveling with me, even if he was silent during the walk. From time to time, I would take a look at him, seeing if he would say anything to break the silence. This, usually just caused the same reaction, where he would just look ahead or fly a little bit ahead of me to scout out the area. It was a weird feeling to no longer be alone and yet still feel alone at the same time.
It was on his third return trip, that I looked at his pipbuck and asked, “So, what was your Stable like?”
“It was Stable 45, near Neighpon,” the stallion said plainly.
After a moment of waiting I followed up with, “So, why the blades? I didn’t think that Stables were that much into swordsponyship.”
He stopped walking alongside me for a moment, taking a look to his wing blades before he continued, “The Stable I came from was based on an idea that everypony would be raised in the tradition of bushido. When we were old enough to pick up a sword, we were taught to follow the rules of bushido, to follow the code of honor, and to follow the way of the sword. Each one of us trained daily to perfect our sword-styles.”
“So, did the stable break down?” I asked,
“No, some raiders managed to find their way in. They wanted us dead, and we disagreed you can see where our ideals clashed,” Swift chuckled as he walked alongside me. “Since the stable was no longer usable, we walked outside. Though much of the town was in ruins, there was enough there for us to make a small settlement. That was where I was born, and lived.”
“Why did you leave?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Is this a thing with you? Asking multiple questions of someone in order to get their whole story?” asked the pegasus.
With an enthusiastic nod, I said “Yes! I love finding all I can about a new person or subject. I love to investigate how things work and I love to learn new things about the world! It’s a hobby of mine!”
Swift let out a sigh and was about to retort, when he narrowed his brow and began to look around, “What was that?”
“What?” I asked, looking the same direction. A small part of me was tempted to fly off and see for myself, but I was quick to remind myself that I was hiding my alicorness.
“That sounded like some mare struggling. Follow me,” Swift ordered as he walked ahead of me. Nodding, I quickly followed and we came upon a small hill. With a low crouch, we laid on our bellies and looked down below us. At the bottom, a mare was crying out for help as a pair of stallions were dragging her body to a small caravan.
“Slavers?” I asked, taking quick note of the guards and soldiers.
Swift shook his head, “No, Fillydelphia is a few miles in the other direction. These ponies are something else. I also never known any slaver that wears a cloak like that,” he said, pointing at the guards.
I looked ahead and nodded, taking notice of the four guards at the wagon, with two more on top of the train. Looking carefully, I noticed that the four guards had what looked to be shotguns, “So, what’s the plan?”
“I’ll fly up and strike at the two guards on top of the wagon, you use a fire spell on the four below,” Swift said, flying up.
I turned to look at the four guards, and then began to ignite my horn with it’s usual violet glow. Now, for personal reasons, I never taught myself any fireball spells or things like that. However, I did know how to focus my magic on an object to heat it up to unusable levels. I looked down at the guards with deep concentration. In a few short moments, the guns began to glow red hot, causing the guards to shriek in pain as they dropped their weapons from their hooves and mouths.
Seeing their reactions as my cue, I ran down the hill with my cloak covering my wings as they unfolded. Even from the distance I was running at them, I could hear their shrieks of shock and surprise. They must have thought that I was some sort of raider, or some rival of theirs, I was neither.
I’m just a pony who has had a history of using ponies against their will, and it’s something that I really hate.
After I had quickly made my approach, I used Dusk to slash across the chest of the guard to my left and then the side of the one at my right before they had a second to try and get their weapons. The two guards in front of me tried to scatter, deciding to run and get a new gun from their carriage. With a focus on my left side, I leapt into the air (with a little boost from my wings) and struck the runaway unicorn with the back of my sword along his back. With a flick of my head, I sent Dusk flying from my side and through the armor of the last guard. The sword ended up sticking him to the side of a carriage, leaving him to run his legs in the middle of the air helplessly.
With a slow and menacing trot, I walk up to the dangeling guard. I smirk a little as he turns his head towards me, and my smile quickly faded as I see his face pale in utter horror, “P-Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me. I didn’t want to guard the caravan, I just wanted to stay back. Please...”
I let loose a sigh at this, not wanting to enjoy seeing other ponies afraid of me. Raising my right hoof, I told him simply, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. But with the headache you would be feeling tomorrow, you’ll wish I did.” I then simply slammed my hoof into his head, knocking him out.
As I pulled my sword away from the unconscious guard, I hear the sickening thump of two bodies as they hit the ground, “It’s a foolish mistake you know.”
“I still won’t kill them,” I said, putting my blade away and ragging the fallen into a group.
Swift had a frown on his face that noted how much he was hating the idea of leaving them alive, “Them alive is only going to give them a chance to get back up and come after us.”
“Then I’ll beat them,” I said, putting the group together. “Besides, with their wounds, they’ll be too focused on getting healed before looking for us. We’ll be long gone before they start coming back.”
“And the ponies of where they kidnapped them from?” Swift asked as he walked to the cages.
“They’ll be ready for them,” I said as he began to unlock the cages.
In a blur, four unicorn mares tumbled out of the cages and gave Swift a giant hug, “Thank you so much sir!” the dark blue mare said, smiling softly. “ We were taken from our village in the middle of the night by these stallions. They told us they were of the Children of the Nightmare!”
“The Children of Nightmare,” I whispered to myself, a part of me wanting to tell them that there was no way that they exist. Mainly because the last time I had seen them, I was smaller, cuter, and had a little bit of an anger problem.
“Yes, that was all they told us about themselves. They were taking us somewhere, but we couldn’t really tell from the carriage,” the dark blue mare said, and then looked to the west. “Our town is in that direction, we can-”
“We’ll be glad to help you back home,” I said, stepping forward with a bow. I could feel Swift staring at me with a look of approval. I think he was planning on offering the same for these four ponies.
“No, we couldn’t impose, the town isn’t really that far, a few miles-”
“There are plenty of other terrors to be had in the wasteland besides slavers, you won't last much longer without an escort,” Swift calmly stated. Quickly, I flashed him a look that reprimanded his blunt comment.
The mare nodded, “T-thank you. Just follow us this way.”
They weren’t wrong, the settlement wasn’t too far from where we saved them. About a five hour trek back, I just wish it wasn’t so exhausting. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m used to hikes like this from my days at the academy. However, it doesn’t mean that I am not averse to wanting to throw off my cloak, tell everypony that I am an alicorn and fly them the rest of the way to their town. I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched Swift fly away and I wanted to use Dusk to cut those detestable wings off.
Instead, I put a hoof to my chest and took a deep breath. Auntie Cadence’s old breathing trick helped me to keep in any evil desire I may have. Instead, I chose to watch the four mares in front of me having a fast conversation with each other. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I listened to them, amazed at how quickly four mares who were kidnapped could so easily return to talking about their lives, even in this hell hole. It almost made me forget that I was in the middle of the wasteland. I felt like I was home again, following my four best friends back home. It was very nostalgic and made me too lost in thought to see that we had arrived at the gates, “Hold, what are-Oh my gosh, Soft Water? You’re ok!” the guard shouted as he ran to the dark blue mare that we saved.
“Black Knight,” Soft said, hugging her stallion friend. “Yes, they saved us from those kidnappers!”
The stallion looked up and smiled, “Thank you so much. When I awoke this morning for my rounds, I had found her gone and I became so worried about her. For a moment, I thought she had gone off to scavenge or went to the trading post. When I found out about the three others and heard PON-3’s broadcast, I was so worried for her. Please, come inside, I insist.”
“Thank you,” I said as he opened the gates for us, his slightly longer red mane bouncing as he did so. “You wouldn’t happen to have any place where we can stay?”
“The mayor,” the orange stallion said as he led me and Swift down the path into the small settlement, “that is, my brother, has some rooms in his shack that he can offer.”
As I offered my thanks, I could hear Swift ask, “Tired? Considering your size, I would think that it would take more.”
“We’ve been walking for half a day, had a short fight, and traveled from Manehatten. I think we’ve earned this,” I snarked back before turning my head, trying to ignore the scoff from behind.
As we walked, I admired a lot of the small town. It seemed to be built around an old lumber mill, complete with a small power station not too far away from the smaller huts. Night led us to the biggest of the houses near the edge of town, a sign reading ‘White Knight’ laid on just the outside of the door. Slowly, the stallion in front of us opened the door and led us into the main office, “Hey bro, I got a few visitors to see ya.”
His brother looked up from his desk, a smattering if papers laid about it in a disjointed manner, “Black, what did you... oh hello, and you two are?”
“My name is Nyx Sparkle and this is-” I paused for moment, trying to figure out what I should call him: friend, associate, stallion who decided to follow me, the annoyance, or just blank. Deciding that I should follow my mom’s advice, I called him “friend, Swift Blade.”
“These two helped to save Ocean and some of the other missing ponies from the town,” Night said.
White let out a groan of relief as he heard the news, “Thank the goddesses, that takes care of at least two of the kidnappings.”
“These have been going on for a while?” I asked.
The orange stallion nodded, “Once a week for the past month. The pattern never changes, we go to sleep, and then wake up to find somepony missing. We’ve been trying our best to protect the ponies, but nothing we’ve tried works.”
Swift arched an eyebrow at this, “Outside, I saw a turret and an electric fence. Why haven't they been put to use?”
The unicorn pointed to the station that was a few miles away from the mill, “See that place? That is a generator meant to power the fence and the turret. The problem? A month ago it broke, and everypony we sent out there has never come back. So, unless you want to go in and fix-”
“We’ll do it!” I said with an enthusiastic cheer.
“You will?” asked Black, taking a step back.
“Well, I was thinking of resting here for tonight, and I didn’t want to impose, so,” I turned to look at White, “If we fix your generator, then you can let us stay in the mansion for the night. Deal?”
White smiled, “Well, it doesn’t seem like I have any other choice. Black will lead you there and wait outside.”
I smiled, but then frowned when I heard Swift respond, “Are you sure?”
“How hard could it be?” I smiled.
“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!!!!!” I thought to myself as as jumped into the side room with Swift as bullets passed us by. Turning my head up to look sheepishly at the pegasus, I let out a nervous chuckle with an accompanying grin. I had almost forgotten the constant of the Wasteland, that if it's going to hurt you or your plans, it will.
It was fine when we entered, the place was relatively quiet and peaceful. It wasn’t until we got into the foyer when we heard the slow plodding of protectron robots and it decided that we needed to die. When we heard it coming, I quickly grabbed a desk that was sitting nearby and threw it in of the laser fire while me and Swift ducked for cover.
As the protectron finished shooting at us and began to look for us again, I slowly brought out Dusk. Swift gave me a look at this, “Do you really think that your blade will be able to cut down a robot?”
“Hey,” I replied, looking into Swift’s red eyes, “I was able to cut down a sprite-bot with this.”
“Sprite-bots have weaker armor than protectrons. They can be taken down in three shots at most,” he said, with a cold, calculating tone. “These robots are going to take more than a wingblade and a falchion.”
As I watched him pull out his gun, I looked up at him as I began to crouch, “that must be why you bring a gun.”
“I am a swordstallion, not an idiot. I don’t stick to one weapon,” Swift said as he looked back into the room at the protectron. “Here’s the plan, I take to the air and shoot the head. You strike at its sides.” As I nodded, I watched him take to the sky, catching the eyes of the protectron. Much like his name sake, he began to weave and duck out of the way of the bullets. As he fired, trying to hit the robot’s head, I leapt out of the room and thrusted with my sword.
As the blade made contact with the robot, I watched as sparks flew from the tip of Dusk. The protectron looked down at me and began to warm up its laser for firing. With a gasp, I leapt out of the way and moved to the side, slashing at its arm as Swift’s bullets rang down upon the robots dome. As the robot tried to reconfigure its targeting system onto Swift, I made another thrust into the robot’s hide, and smiled as I watched the tip breathe into the armor. With a grunt, I dug the blade a little deeper into the bot and destroyed it.
As I pulled out the blade, I could hear Swift land by my side. As he did, I began to count to myself, “10...9...8...7,”
“What are you counting?” asked Swift as he reloaded his gun.
“Time until some other robots appear out of the side door to come and kill us,” I said as I ran ahead to a door that lead to a hallway.
Swift chuckled as he flew after me, “You’re learning.”
As if on cue, three more protectrons appeared from the left hallway of the main room, their guns warming up to fire at us. Seeing us gone down a hall, I could hear their treads beginning to move towards the hallway that we went down. Inside, I swore to myself as we ran down the corridor, trying to figure out a place to hide and regroup. I didn’t have long to figure out as the barrage of lasers began to fill the hallway. Seeing a nearby room, I pulled Swift with my magic and leapt into it.
Swift leaned back against the door as he closed it, taking the time to reload his gun. Panting, he looked to me and waited for me to offer a plan. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was lost. It was hard to take down one of those things with our weaponry. Spells on the other hand, would be able to take out one at a time. My strength was also a good weapon, but at the moment, I knew I couldn’t use that to its fullest because I’d my break my sword. Taking another look at Dusk, I began to think, “Normal metal cutting saws run at about 3,500 rotations per minute. If I could spin my sword at that speed with my magic,” I turned my head to look back at Swift Blade. “Think you can lure those bots away for a few moments?”
The blue pegasus nodded and opened the door. As he disappeared through the door and down the hallway, leading me to listen for the sound of protectrons passing by. While I listened for the sound of the bots, I focused my magic on my blade. Keeping my eyes on it, I began to spin Dusk in a circle while keeping count of the rotations that the blade made. With each count, I made my sword go faster, faster, and faster until it was nothing more than a blur. At a thousand rotations per minute, it became a white blur, and at two thousand, you couldn’t tell that it was a sword anymore. Once it hit the appropriate speeds, I leapt out from the room and sent my spinning sword into the back of one of the protectrons.
The spinning blade made a refreshing hit as it dug itself into the back of the robot, destroying it in a shower of sparks and oil. The second protectron turned to face me, but my spinning blade cut the robot’s chaingun before it could fire. As the third one readied its own weapon to fire at me, Swift flew overhead and readied his gun. I smiled when I saw the blue flash in his eyes, knowing that he was dropping out of SATS. I watched the shots fly and hit the robots venerable dome. I had to admire the faster than light calculations of the Pip-Buck when it came to such things. It really did help with finding the best spot to shoot a robot’s dome and destroy it. As he landed next to me, the third robot fell down in a heap behind him, I held out my hoof for a hoof bump. I then frowned as he refused to return it and walked away.
I could feel a depressed sigh escape my lips. It wasn’t that I am a braggart by any means, but I would like to be happy at something brand new or at least a little bit of acknowledgement of a trick. I shook my head at this rejection as I slowed my sword and slipped it back into its sheath. Turning to follow Swift, I notice he found the head office and was already looking at some of the maps, “The main generator has to be here, somewhere.” he said to himself.
Deciding to not to complain to him about his rudeness earlier, I instead began to look over the desks to see if I could find any maps. After about a few minutes of searching, I let out a little cheer of happiness as I found it, “There we are! And,” I paused as I noticed a look in Swift’s eyes, “What is with that look.”
“What look?” Swift asked me.
“That ‘I think there is more to this’ look,” my mom usually had that look whenever I did something bad and it was not a look you forgot easily. “You are thinking that there is something wrong with this town.”
“Not this town, the situation,” Swift said, taking time to look at me. “Do you not find it odd that this station broke down, and that the guards let their charges get kidnapped by cultists?”
I sighed as I walked out of the room, “Yes, I agree that it is kind of suspicious, but I am trying to give the benefit of the doubt.”
“That kind of thinking can get you killed out here,” Swift said from behind me.
“I rather think better of ponies than to waste my life as a cynic,” I said, not bothering to look behind me. There was snort of disbelief that came from the stallion as we made our way to the generator room. There was an uneasy feeling in my stomach that told me that he had a point and that I should be careful here, this wasn’t my Equestria after all.
Quickly I shut my eyes and shook my head to get that thought out of my head. Just because this was a wasteland and all that I knew was dead, did not mean that I should suddenly forget all that I had loved about Equestria. I needed to believe that there was still some sense out there, that I could still trust ponies, and that there was some still some goodness in them. One look back at my sword and I quickly reminded myself one of the many reasons I took a vow of not killing: To show ponies that there was better way. That you didn’t need to sacrifice ideals and yourself to a hellhole. Turning my head back to the hallway, I stepped into the generator room.
Gazing up, my admiration for Earth pony construction began to grow. The massive device was connected to a central battery with many smaller capacitors surrounding it. It was like the generator was a group of generators, all working in synch. As I stepped forward I began to notice the problem with the generator. With a quick glance up, I could see the wind turbine meant to charge and power the main generator, a turbine that was broken. The capacitors also looked like they lost whatever charge they had left. Next to me, I could hear Swift make his observation, “If we had some time, we could fashion a replacement fan.”
I nodded and looked around, there wasn’t one and we needed to fix it now. Looking at the depowered capacitors, an idea came to my head, “Swift, mind backing up into the hallway?” I asked, a smirk coming to my lips. As he left the room, I faced the generator and put on a smile that Rainbow Dash would be proud of.
I have always been fond of lighting spells, maybe it's because, unlike the other spells in my repertoire that attack, it is the only one I have perfect control over. I can make a single bolt tame enough to stun a pony to a veritable lightning storm from my horn. Maybe another reason comes from my connection to Nightmare Moon, who had just as much of a control over lighting magic. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t help but feel excited as the sparks of lightning began to crawl from the base of my horn to the tip. Soon my horn was covered in a cage of oscillating lighting, the tip of my horn being the only thing that kept the lighting in check. As the power continued to increase, there was a feeling of the hairs of my coat beginning to stand on end, my mane becoming more frazzled as the blue-white bolts continued to dance around my horn. Once I had my lighting at the level of power I wanted, my head lowered and I unleashed a torrent of powerful lighting from it. The powerful bolts of chain lightning struck the main generator, causing it to hum with power, by extension, so did the capacitors. After a few moments, I turned off my magic and pulled back, proud of the job I had done, “That should give them enough power to keep going for a few more months,” I said as I walked past a surprised Swift.
The blue pegasus put a hoof to his chin, “For a unicorn that says she was from a temple, you certainly used a powerful lightning spell.”
I blushed at this and tried to hide my alicornhood with a bold faced lie, “Ummm, well, I liked to study lighting magic back in the temple and I got really good at it,” I ended the lie with a cute little chuckle, hoping my embarrassment might throw him off. The look he gave told he me he did not buy it. He just walked away, saying nothing to me.
The mayor was true to his word, once we came back from the generators he offered us the rooms for us to stay for the night. I welcomed the chance to finally rest my aching hooves and sleep. As we went into our separate rooms, I noticed that Black had a down look in his eyes. Choosing to ignore it, I closed the door and went to bed. While the room was sparse, with only a bed and a radio, it was to be expected of a guest quarters like this. Taking off my armor and cloak, I used my magic to turn on the radio. While the music played, my eyes looked outside to the wasteland.
My heart felt a little heavy at the thought that the Equestria of my youth had turned out so badly, but, I felt a little comfort knowing that I can at least count on making a new friend, even if they can be a twit. With a soft breath, I snuggled into the bed for a good night’s sleep.
Or,I would’ve had one, if I hadn’t heard my door slowly open two hours later. Slowly, I opened my eyes and watched as the three ponies walk in with ropes in their mouths. Quietly, I waited until they were a few feet away from the bed. Just before they could attack, I threw my blanket in their faces and leapt from the mattress. Luckily, the room was dark enough so they could not see my wings give me an additional boost in my jump. Landing behind them, I bucked the middle of the trio in the back with a powerful kick, sending him into the wall. With the other two ponies in shock, I delivered a right hook into one’s face and an uppercut into the other’s chin. With the three assailants currently unconscious, I walked over to the chair next to my bed and levitated my cloak to put it over my wings. I then let out a sigh, “Buck, now I have to wait a few minutes for one of you to wake up.”
As they slept, I used their rope to them up and waited until the first one woke up. I looked at him and asked, “Who are you?”
“Straight Dart, youngest of the Children of the Nightmare,” he said, his voice woozy. “I and my companions were let in here to capture some ponies to deliver them to the Eldest.”
“Where and why?” I asked, going back to my guard training.
“We don’t know. The youngest are meant to be seen and not heard, so we are given only what we need to do to complete our tasks. In this case grabbing you and taking you to the middle children,” Straight said, looking at me with utter horror.
I wondered what he was afraid of, and then I noticed that my dragon like eyes were glowing in the dark. It gave me a sort of monstrous visage, one that I never liked having, though it was useful from time to time. Nodding in thanks for information, I knocked him back out again and walked out of my room.
Once I stepped out of the threshold, I watched as a body was flung from Swift’s room. Feeling worried, I ran to the body’s side and sighed in relief that I saw that the body was not Swift,but one of the kidnappers. I then turned my head away when I noted that the pony was also dead, two deep gashes in his neck being the cause of death. Turning my head to look into Swift’s room, I heard the scream of Black, “Please don’t kill me!”
“You had ponies kidnapped, betrayed your job, and you expect me to let you live for your cri-”
I saw that Swift had his blade to Black’s throat, “Swift, let him go!”
The blue pegasus turned to me, and narrowed his brow at me, “He has betrayed his entire settlement, got his wife kidnapped. He’s responsible for the kidnappings, and you expect me to let this slide?”
“Is this true?” I asked Black, looking at him.
Black dropped from the wall, breathing hard after being let go, “Y-yes. I let them do that in exchange for protection. After the power went down, I needed a way to protect the ponies, I had to! So I told them I would open the gates at night and would let the children come in and kidnap the ponies. I never thought they would go after my wife, and I didn’t think it would be this bad. I just wanted to-”
“Protect those you care about,” I said, sighing. “ What you are going to do, is get out of here and confess to your brother of what you did. Then you are going to help out in whatever capacity to make up for your crime.”
Swift said nothing to me, choosing instead to walk to the window and fly out. I shook my head and looked to Black, who meekly ran from me. After going back to my room to get my equipment, I walked outside of the house to see Swift waiting for me outside, frowning, “Are you sure this is wise?” At my nod, Swift shook his head, “You know what is going to happen. He’ll face trial, be punished, and most likely come back to do this again.”
“If that is what this town decides, fine. Heck, who knows, maybe he’ll change and will work to redeem himself. At least he'll have that chance!” I said walking away from him.
“So, naive,” Swift grumbled, following me. “Don’t you think for one second that maybe some ponies can’t change?”
“I don't think it's naive to respect pony life. I want to be able to keep my ponies safe, not kill them. They all need a chance to redeem themselves, to see that they don’t have to succumb to vices and sacrifice their goodwill to this world. And if I die while doing that? Then fine,” I said, walking towards the gate, “You don’t have to follow me.”
“I know, but I want to,” Swift said, walking behind me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because, I am curious about something, and I won’t leave until I see if it comes true,” Swift said, fling ahead.
I choose not to pursue the matter, and just kept on walking.
Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Nightmarish Presence: You certainly know how to work with your eyes! Enemies are now quicker to run from you. If only you could use that to convince traders to give you discounts...
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Ugh. I hate pacifists.
refrance
They told us they were of the Children of the Nightmare SAY FUCKING WHAT!!!! oooogh god no anything but that again. well Nyx your past has come back to haunt you again, this should be interesting.
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near the bottom
I'm finding the presence of a hallucination of Nightmare Moon... odd. The fact is, I'm not sure if it is a hallucination. I'm wondering if, before this is all over, Nyx will have to confront the Nightmare again and remind herself once more the difference between a protector and a monster.
FWIW, if anypony manages to get Nyx to cross the line and kill, it will doubtless be the Children of the Nightmare. The thought of them carrying out atrocities in her name would probably drive Nyx to the edge and beyond! It will be like the cannibal village Littlepip destroyed - the moment when she has to confront what the monster inside her really is like.
I strongly suspect that Swift is in love with Nyx and just doesn't know it yet!
Nice.
Swift reminds me more of the historical Saito than the one from Ruroni Kenshin. He is a very well-written OC so far.
6401152
How is he like the historical Saitoh? (He is my favoirt of the Shinsengumi)
6378859 Being a Pacifist is a bad thing per say, It becomes trouble when practiced to extreme measures. Like a King that gives away large portions of his kingdom to neighboring Nations to prevent war, when Just a bit of power being displayed would be enough to drive them off.
Really interesting, I may continue reading this
6378859 If you were to read Past Sins and learn about Nyx's past, then you'd understand as to why she doesn't want to kill any pony.
(Spoilers ahead for those woh haven't finished reading Past Sins.)
She had a horrible experiance with killing ponies because her own mother, albiet she was a foster mother and Twilight at that, nearly died because of Nyx's actions. It wasn't even in an honorable way, but a demented wayi n which Twilight was possessed to think she was being executed in the name of Nightmare Moon. She also nearly lost Twilight's friends as well as her own friends to death, and nearly killed Luna and Celestia herself, not to mention nearly caused Mass Genocide when she brought eternal night. She also vowed to save any pony even if it meant death for her, because it became her talent to do so.
However, I do sort of agree with you there. Wich is why I'm expecting Nyx to lose her shit at some point and end up killing, if not out of pure rage and insanity, than at least out of irrational thinking in order to save a pony she cares about. I deffinitely have a feeling that it may happen, specially with her mental fight against Nightmare Moon.
6379223 I have a feeling the new, psuedo-CoN are going to be the cause of Nyx going insane and going on a killing spree. Can't wait to see the killstreaks come chugging out and the killfeed to be filled with "Nyx_Ni9h7m4r3_5p4rk13 -[Fucking Badass Falchion]- Scrublord_PNT," or maybe even "Scrublord_PNT- Mistakes were made." Either way; let the pwnage begin!
6923632 I have read Past Sins and I understand why she's a pacifists but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
I'm starting to wonder...The goddess is technically Trixie, Twilight, Gestalt, and Mosaic.
Wouldn't it be most wise to check that place out fist?
Oh, and
?
Yeah, good one Nyx