Battle reports

by Gowak

02 - Pinkamena Diane Pie - Hide and Seek

"The secret to making a good warmare is to scrap what we do not need without altering the core of the individual. We need the version of them that will be best suited to the Empress' needs. Millenia of practice gave us quite the documentation on the subject."
— Iron Scalpel, Master Apothecary of the Death Spectres

Pinkamena Diane Pie had few memories of her past prior her transformation into a warmare. Years of indoctrination were due to affect somepony’s memory. She did not mind. She could not mind. But even if she could, she probably would not. The ponies she left behind were long gone. Whatever was left of her relatives were foreign to her.

Her past was dead. Probably literally.

Still, she liked to probe at the shattered fragments of her former times. The most curious part of psyche poking at the edge of her remembrance, following the crumbs of half purged thoughts scattered in her mind. She tried not to indulge herself in it, but something was exhilarating about it... like a forbidden treasure hunt... or the last silent steps before an assassination.

Most of these memories were just flashes, deprived of context. A race in the streets of a crowded city... the exploration of an old house... the capture and release of rats in the hidden corners of buildings... But if she looked deeper, at the fuzzy limits where the conscious and the unconscious met, she stumbled upon bigger remnants. There, the last surviving parts of her pony self resided, broken, distorted, warped out of shape, hollowed out of their substance… but present.

She always considered them with a mix of excitement and anxiety. What if her past self infected her? What if it made her weak? Hesitant? What if it challenged her loyalty or her faith?

In the end, she always dug deeper, convinced of the righteous nature of her present self and confident in her purpose. If her past was enough to make her waver, then either she was weak or the chapter was wrong. The former meant she still had a weakness to purge out of her. The latter was heresy.

So further she searched, following the breadcrumbs of memories, pushing into her childhood. She dug until she found something big, something important… something fundamental. She always hesitated then. Whatever she would remember, she would not be able to forget. She would have to carry it with her.

Curiosity killed her doubt with the same efficacy as it did the paleo-cat.

Pinkamena Diane Pie reminisced.

⚔⚔⚔

That day had been hot. Hot enough for her Pa to turn on the air conditioning. He hated turning it on. He called it a waste of money and a way to tax gullible ponies. So she knew the day had to have been hot.

Her Pa wasn’t here today though. Neither was her Ma. Some ponies had come to her house in their giant ship and they had taken them out to discuss things. She had no idea what or why. Well, maybe she had an idea. She was certain it had something to do with her. And a weapon. She knew because she had listened to the conversation in secret. It had not been a nice talk. Ma had been crying and Pa had been shouting a lot but in the end, it seemed like everypony had agreed to something concerning her.

She had a very hard time focusing on this, however. There was a giant in front of her. A literal giant. Even sitting, she was taller than Swift Surprise standing up. She was probably bigger than her Pa too and her Pa was the biggest pony she knew. The giant was beautiful too, with her soft white fur and short, straight, bright pink mane. Yet, something about it was different. She was beautiful in a way the filly had not experienced before. She was not beautiful like High Sky and her pretty blue mane or like her Ma and her bright smile. She was beautiful like one of the city's statues: imposing, noble, and a bit frightening. She even wore the same armour as the statues, which in turn made her more imposing.

"You're very big," Swift Surprise finally let out without thinking.

"I am very big," the giant said with a small approving nod, "and you are very small. Would you like to be as big as me, Swift Surprise?"

The foal thought about it for a few seconds. “Nah," she finally declined, shaking her head vigorously. "Being big can be good but that’s too big. I would lose at hide-and-seek all the time.”

“You play hide-and-seek too?” the warmare said with a feigned expression of surprise. "I am a champion of hide-and-seek in my Legion!”

“But how can you hide‽ You’re so big!”

The giant looked left and right before leaning toward the foal, whispering in a conspiring tone. “I have secret techniques. Secret hiding places my masters taught me. I could show you but..." she looked pensive for a second as if considering it. "No I should not... it is one of my Legion's secrets…”

Swift Surprise took the bait immediately. “Please tell me!" the foal begged, clinging to the power armour of the spacemare. "I want to know! I promise I won’t repeat them! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Please?”

The giant mare put a hoof under her chin. “I do not know… they are secret… I cannot give them to anypony… But I suppose I could teach them to you if you prove better than me.”

“Really? You would?”

“Only if you are better than me,” the warmare said with an amused smile.

“I am! Let me show you!”

"Really? Well, let us see if you are. What about a game of hide-and-seek? If you win I will tell you all I know."

"You promise you will tell me?"

“Only if you win,” the spacemare reminded, her confident smile never wavering. “Do you want to hide first?”

Swift Surprise nodded emphatically.

“Very well then.” The giant mare got up in a supernaturally fluid movement. She nonchalantly pointed at the door. “Follow me.”

⚔⚔⚔

“The rules are simple,” the mare had stated. “You can hide anywhere you want. I will count to one hundred before I start searching. If I can’t find you in half an hour, you win and I’ll teach you my secrets. Any question?”

Swift Surprise had shaken her head, trying hard not to smile too broadly. The giant had said 'anywhere she wanted'. That included her ship! She would never suspect the foal to be hiding here. She just had to find someplace discreet inside and she was sure to win.

Infiltrating the ship had been easy. As often, adults didn't expect a foal to sneak in and the giants were no different. Years of practice had turned a knack for lurking into a bonafide skill. And Swift Surprise was the most skilled in the area.

She quietly explored the bowels of the craft. It was so different from the other vessels she'd been into. First of all, it was way cleaner. Usually, she had to be careful about walking on the filth littering the ground. Here, the only thing under her hooves was the neat reflection of her cyan and white figure on the deck. There was less stuff, but the few things she could see looked either dangerous or mysterious. Often both. The more the reason for her to be careful around them. She didn’t want her Pa to have to pay for broken stuff… or worse, to signal her presence to the giants. Only one thing interested her now: a hideout, a place where she could see and not be seen, a place her seeker wouldn't think about or wouldn't be able to reach, preferably both.

After a minute of reflection, she opted for a small box in a corner of the room. It was unremarkable, not in anypony’s way and, more importantly, it had little holes she could see through. A perfect hiding place.

Time passed, slowly at first, then even slower. Swift Suprise didn’t mind too much. She kept her calm and waited, counting the seconds as precisely as she could. This was a lesson she had learned and remembered: never give in to impatience. She would wait twenty minutes, half an hour or even all afternoon if needs be. Anything rather leave her spot early and get caught. She was in to win.

Swift Surprise heard the giant coming as she counted the twelfth minute. The hoofstep was calm and loud and purposeful. In her mind, there was no doubt. It was her. Her heart beat faster and faster, louder and louder as her seeker got closer. Panic began to whisper bad ideas that looked more reasonable by the second, sowing doubts in her mind, messing the numbers in her head.

This was the second lesson for the hiding ponies: panic was bad and one should never listen to it. If she could stay calm now and not reveal her presence, she was almost sure to win. She just had to remain calm. She took a deep, silent breath; she closed her eyes and emptied her mind.

I’m not here. I don’t exist. I’m not here. I don’t exist… She kept repeating this mantra, forgetting her surrounding, forgetting the hoofsteps closing in on her position, forgetting even her presence. It didn’t matter if the giant found her hideout. She wasn’t there. She didn’t exist. There was nothing to find at this place. Not even her.

The hoofsteps stopped right next to the crate. If she had been there – which she was not – she could have seen the silhouette of the giant casting its shadow over the box. Swift Surprise didn’t waver, still repeating her mantra in her head.

How long did it last? She had no idea. But when she emerged from her trance, the giant was gone. She was alone again.

She had won this round.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips, carrying with it all the tension she had accumulated so far. She was about to win! Adults never checked the same place twice so now she was safe! She just had to wait a bit more. The filly could feel the victory, and her prize, merely a few minutes away. She could already see the face of her friends as she would use the secret techniques of the giants...

A low, massive growl, coming from all around her interrupted her thoughts. It ran through the hull of the ship, and into her bones. Swift Surprise knew exactly what it meant...

“Departure from Occulus imminent. Every pony must go to their station. Departure from Occulus imminent…”

Swift Surprise left her hideout and ran.

⚔⚔⚔

“I have found you.” The giant had said the word with a detached, almost cold tone. It had felt like a slap on the foal's face. She had run, faster than she thought she could, only to find the giant sitting in front of the closed exit. Even for her juvenile brain, it was easy to understand that she had been tricked.

“You cheated!” she accused between two laboured breaths.

“Really? How so?”

“You! You… you made the ship fly!”

“And?”

“You knew I would try to leave!”

“Doesn’t that mean I knew you were on the ship in the first place? Doesn’t that mean I knew you were hidden in that box in the storage room?”

The words slapped her again, harder this time. Had she been that transparent? “You cheated…” she repeated, with less conviction this time.

The giant ignored her. “These will be your first lessons. First, if conditions are not in your favour, make them be. Second, be where your opponent does not want you to be. Third, make your opponent be where you want them to be. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Swift Surprise didn’t answer. Confusion jumbled the words in her head and paralysed her mouth. She was lost and on the verge of tears… Something was happening and it looked important but she couldn’t understand what…

“Did you understand what I said,” the giant repeated. “Quick, foal. We do not have all day.”

The impatience in the giant’s tone snapped her out of it, putting the words back in the right order. Whatever was happening, it was important and the faster she obeyed, the sooner she’d be back to her parents. “I… I do,” she said with a nod.

“Repeat what I said.”

“Change the condition if they’re not in your favour, be where the seeker doesn’t want you to be, make the seeker be where you want.”

“Close enough,” the giant evaluated with the hint of a smile.

“Miss I… I want… I want to go home... please?”

The giant tilted her head on the side, in a posture of incomprehension even Swift Surprise knew was fake. “That’s where we’re going. To your new home.”

“Bu-bu-but… what about my ma and my pa? An-and my friends?”

“You probably won’t see them again. You should accept it as quickly as possible.”

“Why‽”

“Because the Imperium needs you, young one. You will become the mare it needs to survive. That is heavy duty and it demands sacrifices.”

“Bu-but why... me?”

“Because you’ve been chosen, even before your birth. Because you’re gifted, smart and resourceful. Because you have passed my tests with flying colours.“

The compliment didn’t make her fate any more tolerable. “But what if I don’t want that?”

“You do not have a choice.”

Tears trickled down her face, crashing hopelessly on the cold metallic floor. This was not fair. She just wanted to stay the Champion of hide-and-seek. So what if the Imperium needed her? Swift Surprise just wanted to go home. Her real home, with her Ma and her Pa! There were other fillies! Better fillies! They didn’t have to take her! They didn’t need her. Her ma needed her to bake treats for her Pa when he came home after work! And who would wake her Pa for his morning shifts! This was so unfair!

Each tear carried with it her sadness and hopelessness, letting place for a whole new set of emotions. Anger. Resolve. Righteous indignation. She wiped away the tears and look at the giant in the eyes, unafraid and proud. “I challenge you at hide-and-seek”

For a second the giant seemed to wonder if she’d heard correctly. For a fraction of that, genuine surprise took over her feature. The moment passed and surprise faded, replaced by genuine appreciation.

“I admire your spirit, foal!” The giant gracefully got up. For the first time, Swift Surprise truly realised how big she was. “I, Pinkemena Diane Pie of the Death Spectre, accept your challenge. You have two hours before we reach our destination. If you can find me before that, you win.”

Swift Surprise slowly nodded. For the first time, she wondered if she could even win. The giant had damaged her armour of confidence and doubts crept into her mind through the cracks. Could she even win? Could she defeat the Giant and her secrets?

It didn’t matter if she could. She would, she decided. No matter what happened, she would win. And she’d even be back before dinner. She. Would. Win.

She tied her her white, creamy hair in a knot, a sign every other fillies in her neighborhood knew meant she was getting serious. Her Ma hated when she did that, but this time it was for a good cause. It was worth being yelled at… if it meant she would see her again.

“Are you ready, little one?”

The filly took the bravest-looking pose she could. “I, Swift Surprise, Champion of hide-and-seek Occulus, am ready.”

⚔⚔⚔

Years passed in a blur of forgettable and forgotten memories. Swift Surprise was different now. More than a mare, less than a warmare. Training, war and indoctrination had forged her in ways that would break most ponies. And yet it was still not enough. The Death Spectres expected more and more from her and she didn’t shy away from the challenge. She welcomed it, for, despite her growth, she still had not caught up with her. No matter how strong, how fast, how tough, how discreet she was… she still couldn’t catch up with “the giant”. All her efforts had so far amounted to a crushing series of defeats.

But this was the day.

After months of painstakingly rising through the ranks of the initiates, she had finally gotten a chance to face her mentor. All she needed was to win one last bout against the other aspirants and she would be rewarded with a fight against Pinkamena. Unfortunately, her opponent was not of the cooperative kind.

Bright Night fully deserved her first place among the novices. She was fast, precise and deadly with a knife and, unfortunately for Swift Surprise, she was determined to keep her rank. The challenger had hoped she could have eliminated her from afar before she could reach her as she had every other one of her opponents. She had severely miscalculated Bright Night's craftiness. Now she was stuck in close combat range with her sniper rifle as her sole weapon. Probably the worst scenario she could imagine at the moment.

Swift Surprise ducked, barely dodging a vicious blow aimed at her head. Curled white hair fell on the ground, severed from her scalp by the knife. She shuddered, thinking about the damage it would have done if she had not dodged. Bright Night was taking this fight extremely seriously.

"That was close," she said, jumping back to get some breathing room. "Lucky hair cut doesn't count as drawing blood... Could you imagine?"

Bright Night didn't answer, choosing instead to charge her opponent. She seemed determined to ignore the babble of her challenger, which didn't seem to phase the talkative pony one bit.

"Well, it wouldn't be very dangerous for you..." Swift Surprise added, bocking two quick attacks with the handle of her gun. "You're almost bald. But for me? Gosh, that would be a mess."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Bright Night grumbled, finally breaking her silence.

"Nope!"

And so went the fight. Bright Night was pushing her advantage while Swift Surprise was slowly and cheerfully retreating toward the edge of the arena. It was only a matter of time before the challenger found herself deprived of any escape room.

"Any last word?" Bright Night said, carefully closing in for the kill.

"Yes!" she said with a smile, producing a detonator from her hair. "Boom."

Bright Night was good. One of the best. She had honed her reflex and reactivity to highs mere ponies could only hope to reach. And in this case, it backfired completely. Years of training took hold of her in an instant, before she could even think about it consciously she had already jumped out of the blast area, hoping to reduce the incoming explosion.

It never came.

She realised she had been tricked a fraction of a second too late. She felt the biting impacts of the shots on her armour before she was even on the ground. She was on her hooves instantly, ready to fight more, unfortunately, she knew the fight was already over.

"Winner: Swift Surprise," the vox erupted.

"Celdammit!" Bright Night shouted, throwing her helmet on the ground. "I was so close!"

"You were!" Swift Surprised confirmed, stopping the helmet dexterously. "I was sure I had lost for a second."

"You won't get me twice with the same trick. I'll get you next time."

"I sure hope not!" Swift said, gently throwing the helmet back to its owner.

Bright Night caught it with a smile. It was hard to stay mad at the cheerful mare. “So you’re defying her again.”

“Yep!”

Bright Night waved her head incredulously. “I can’t understand for the life of me why you want to fight her that much. How many defeats has it been already? Fifteen? Sixteen?”

“Twenty-two so far!” Swift announced cheerfully without a trace of shame nor discouragement.

“Wait really?”

“Yepper!” she said, nodding vigorously. “She’s really sneaky. Even the trick I used on you didn’t work… she just knocked me out before I could even say ‘boom’.”

Bright Night studied the face of her sister, looking for a punchline. There was none. “Why do you inflict this on yourself, Swift?”

Swift’s cheerfulness dissipated like a shadow in bright light. “I… I… I don’t know,” she admitted. “I feel like I promised myself I would beat her someday. I’m not sure why though.”

Bright Night simply nodded. Whatever happened between the two of them was none of her business after all. "So you're ready to face her?"

"Yep! I'll get her this time!"

"Really?" said a third voice. "I would love to see you try."

"Lady Pinkamena!" they said, turning toward her and bowing respectfully. "We didn't see you coming."

"I know," she simply said. This was their usual greeting. She would sneak on them and they would acknowledge their failure to detect her. It almost felt like a game to them now. One the noviciates were keen on winning one day. "This was a good fight. You two show lots of promise, noviciates."

"Thank you for your kind words, Lady Pinkamena," Bright Night answered, bowing once again.

Pinkamena smiled then turned toward the new champion. "So, Swift. You have the right to ask me for a duel. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

The neophyte giggled cheerfully. "I was born ready!" she boasted.

What happened next didn't even register to Swift's brain. One instant she was talking then the next the world was upside down, the ground crashing down towards her at incredible speeds. She fell hard, air leaving her lungs on impact leaving her dizzy and defenceless for a second. The fight was over before it had even started.

“You were overconfident.” Despite her spinning head, the voice of Pinkamena reached her loud and clear. “Always expect a surprise attack. Never relax your guard in front of the enemy. You must also work on your close combat skills. This attack should not have worked on you.”

“You cheated!” she coughed, painfully standing up.

The Spacemare’s answer was a victorious smile.

“I’ll get you one day, you know?”

“At this rate, maybe in a century or two,” she boasted, leaving the place. Swift Strike followed, already thinking of her next duel.

⚔⚔⚔

Untold, insignificant years passed, filled with wars and recovery and little to no consequences. Until the siege of Bodak-Sigma-Two.

For the first time since Isstvan, a conflict had found them utterly unprepared, forcing them to fight in ways that weren’t theirs. The unending, thundering staccato of heavy bolters had replaced the single, decisive impacts of sniper rifles. Spectres ran openly in the battlefield in clear view of their opponents, chainswords ready, rather than roaming its shadow. It was an open and bloody war, one that forbade the subtleties of their customs. But even in these conditions, the Death Spectres were spacemares. They were the pinnacle of ponykind excellence. Even deprived of their best weapon, they were the deadliest warriors in the galaxy and they would remind it to their foes.

For most of the recruits, however, it was an ungodly baptism of fire. In those extreme conditions, they had to prove once and for all that they were worthy of the attention of the chapter. Armed with weapons too big and powerful for even their pre-horstarte modified body, they fought alongside their future sisters with both courage and apprehension.

Swift Surprise was an exception to that. Something in her had been awakened by the conflict. An urge to dive deep into the enemy lines, a need to strike in the middle of their ranks, where they wouldn't expect her. Just because they were stuck into a conventional war didn't mean she wouldn't use the tactics and training of her mentors. And if she died, she would die a Spectre, striking fear in the heart of the enemies of ponykind.

Which should happen as soon as her future target got out of hiding and decided to take the road below her. A matter of hours if not minutes if her calculations were correct.

"You are far away from your assigned position," a voice whispered behind her.

It took all of her willpower not to yell in surprise. She instantly turned, her dagger already striking. An oversized hoof stopped it effortlessly, simply by being in its way before it could get any momentum.

"At ease, neophyte," Pinkamena said, putting a silencing hoof on her muzzle. "We do not want them to find us."

Swift Surprise nodded slowly and the spacemare removed her hoof. "I'm sorry, Lady Pinkamena, but I just felt I could be more useful here than in the rear guard."

"And why do you believe this?"

Swift Surprise hesitated for a moment. While it was true that the Spectres valued initiative, she was not a spacemare yet and disobeying a direct order was probably not a good thing. However, she refused to lie to another Spectre. Especially her. She wouldn't lie to Pinkamena. "My lady, if the enemy reaches that point, then the battle would have been already lost. I always excelled at reconnaissance and sabotage. This is what I do best. I think... No, I know that I can help more here than stuck in tranches."

"And what is your plan exactly? Killing them one by one?"

"That would be slow and boring... No, I found one of their supply roads. They use it to sustain their push in the centre." To add emphasis to her point, she drew a rough map of the area, showing the push in the frontline. "If we cut it, their forces will have to retreat for a time, 'less they get flanked by Lady Thunder Strike and Lady Iron Bolt." She sent a glance at Pinkamena, looking for approval. The Spacemare nodded curtly.

"Go on."

"A mile away from here, I noticed the perfect place for an ambush. They do not expect any attack so they've been lazy with their defences. I planned on severing their supply line there and retreat before they come back. It will be easy peasy."

"And what will you do after that?"

"Find another point to poke them and keep up of course!"

"I do not mean that. What will you do to make sure this road remains closed?"

"I– I don't..."

"You did not think about that."

"No, my Lady," Swift admitted, lowering her head in shame.

"Do not forget this. It is not enough to harass the enemy and disarm them. You also need to make sure they do not take back their weapon."

"Yes, Lady Pinkamena."

"Now, follow me and do exactly as I say."

The plan was simple. Pinkamena was to stop the supply convoys and Swift Surprise was to assist and provide cover. The aspirant wanted to point out how suicidal that plan was, but since it was the exact same plan as hers, she kept it for herself. If anything, it was way superior now due to the presence of a warmare.

The enemy never saw her coming. They simply progressed on their assigned path without care and then started dying. Oubjaleba was a shadow hiding in plain sight, moving toward the troops without a sound, seemingly disappearing and reappearing without leaving a trace. Many soldiers died before they even noticed the dead among them. Even Swift Surprise had trouble following her movement. It was as if the spacemare could simply vanish in thin air, erase her presence until it was nothing more than the trace of a memory. It was mesmerizing enough that it would almost distract her from her task. Almost.

Her first shot claimed the life of a soldier about to ring the alarm. The detonation filled the air, echoing around them with force. This immediately revealed their presence to the convoy's escort, but instead of giving them an advantage, it simply created chaos and confusion. They were realising that something was killing them and they had no idea where it came. She reloaded quickly and resumed her aiming. Another shot claimed the life of another enemy about to raise their weapon against her mentor. Reload. Three more soldiers died, engulfed by an unequine shadow. Another shot silenced an officer. Reload. Another soldier died. Reload...

It took them a few minutes to eliminate the threat. To Swift Surprise, it had been both an eternity and the split of a second. They had done it... And she had helped Pinkamena. Pride was slowly rising as her adrenaline was leaving her system. Even in two hundred years, she would remember this.

"That was awesome!" she said in the vox, trying to contain her enthusiasm.

"This was pretty impressive, neophyte. You did we–"

Time stopped, trapped between two instants. Swift Surprise saw the explosion as it happened, like a still pictograph made by a surprisingly grim and talented artist. There was some terrible beauty in it, something poetic and majestic yet tragic about the way the flames and debris framed the silhouette of her mentor. Pinkamena blinked once in surprise. Then time took hold again. Swift felt the deflagration push her again with the finality of destiny and everything turned black.

She woke up surrounded by flaming debris. Her body hurt in ways she didn't think possible. She had several broken bones and probably suffered some internal bleeding, but nothing she wouldn't survive. She had another concern than her wellbeing anyway.

“Pinkamena!” she screamed, both out loud and in her vox. “Pinkamena, answer me!”

“Shhh. I am dying, not deaf.”

The weakness in Pinkamena’s voice made Swift Surprise shudder. She realised how right her mentor was. She was dying. She had probably less than a couple of minutes in her. She ran faster, trying to find the signal in the chaotic mess of the battle. “Where are you?”

“Under some rubbles, obviously,” the spacemare painfully coughed.

“Where are you?”

“It does not matter, neophyte. I should not be your concern anymore. The only spacemare who should look for me is the apotheca–” the rest of the sentence was drowned in her blood that the spacemare audibly expelled out of her mouth. If it was not obvious before, it was clear now. There was no saving her. "Look like I will stay undefeated...”

“I won't let die! I will find you and carry you back so I can win properly!”

Pinkamena laughed. It was a pitiful sound, a repeated whizzing growing calmer and calmer, softer and softer. “A commendable wish. But even if you found me you would never get to me in time. I win this round, Swift.”

She wanted to say she was wrong. She wanted to prove her wrong, even one time. But she was beaten. Again. She had lost. Again. “You cheated…”

“This is your last lesson, Swift…” she breathed painfully, “cheat...”

⚔⚔⚔

The spacemare woke up on an operation table in an empty, unlit room with a strong feeling of dissociation. Her mind was running faster than ever before, yet her memories were surprisingly scarce. She could barely remember what she was doing here or how she even got here. Even her identity was more hollow than she remembered, as if something had been pulled out to make space for something else, something more. Her body too felt alien to her. It screamed in pain from miles away from her consciousness, hundreds of surgical cuts healing at the same time, taken care of by her superequine metabolism. She put a hoof on her neck, feeling her new organ lodged deep under the skin and muscles. Her new progenoid gland. She was not a mere pony anymore, not even a heavily augmented one. She had transcended that. She was a horstarte. She was a full-fledged Spectre of Death.

She looked around her, getting a feel of her new set of senses and sensation. Her gaze pierced the gloom with ease. On her left, she could see the light pouring from the frame of the only exit. She effortlessly got out of the surgery table and stood on the ground. She was bigger now. A strange sense of vertigo flooded her then receded as she started to walk. It would take her some time to get fully used to it, but she would adapt.

She walked slowly, each step shedding more of her clumsiness revealing more confidence and strength. By the time she had reached the door, she felt like a whole new mare. A Spacemare. Without hesitation, she opened the door.

Light flooded her, overcoming her sense for the briefest of times. Nine spacemares were waiting. Waiting for her. They were looking at her with a form of kindness and sisterhood she didn't know existed before. These ponies were her new family, she realised. Her squad.

“Welcome sister,” they all said in unison. “You are reborn, reborn as a Spectre of Death. Tell us, sister, what is your name?”

For a second, she hesitated. Deep in a corner of her mind, a name struggled to surface, buried deep under her conditioning and half-awakened brain. A part of her wanted to reach for it, grab it and claim it… but she stopped as she saw her fur in the light for the first time. It was pink. As was her long curly mane. There was something terribly wrong yet soothingly right about this. It was as if this wasn’t hers, as if she had taken it from somepony else… somepony more deserving. The feeling passed, replaced by righteousness. It didn’t matter. No matter who or what this fur meant, it was hers now. She was pink. It was her.

A name finally emerged, a fitting name, a name worthy of her new fur and status. She claimed it, out and loud, with pride and respect to her new sisters.

“I am Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Author's Note:

"The battlefield has a thousand of lessons to teach you. We will tellyou some of them. May you survive the others."