• Published 28th Jun 2018
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To Devour a God - the7Saviors



Peace had finally been achieved after years of war, but then they came—the monsters who would devour the world. In a desperate attempt to survive, we united and became the ones who would devour the monsters. It's been 113 years since that day.

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Chapter XXVII – The Scientists of Ponyville

I wanted to ask Sunset more about the twins, but all I was able to get out of her before things got busy were their names. I knew from speaking to the mares that Castor was the name of the sleepy-eyed one and apparently the other mare's name was Pollux. I had assumed from what Doctor Whooves had told me, that they were from Canterlot like Sunset but for some strange reason, I wasn't so sure.

I couldn't say why, and Sunset didn't say one way or the other, but somehow I felt like even in Canterlot they would've stuck out. I'd certainly never heard of a pair of twins working at HQ and they didn't seem like they were from Ponyville either. Again though, I had no way of knowing for sure as of yet and all my attention was taken up by volunteer work pretty quickly.

Cheerilee had mentioned that the distribution of goods was coming to a close for the day pretty soon and it seemed like the ponies living in the slums knew it. I'd seen the long line outside but hadn't really registered just how many ponies needed supplies and how impatient a lot of them were to get them. The only ponies working behind the counter to get them all what they needed were me, Sunset, and Seeker, much to my surprise.

He hadn't seemed like the type to do volunteer work, but there he was, handing out boxes and bags of food and clothes. That said, he did look like he wanted to be anywhere else and his communication skills left a lot to be desired. The irritation at his predicament was coming off of him in waves, and it made me wonder why he was even here in the first place.

Well, not like it's any of my business I suppose...

He hadn't even acknowledged me or Sunset, and I knew better than to reach out to him at this point so I just let him be and focused on my own work. All Seeker and I had to do essentially was hand out whatever ponies needed, whether that be food or clothes. Sunset was there mostly to keep stock of what items went out and of how many ponies had been taken care of.

As I worked, I idly wondered if the clothes in question had all been made by Rarity, but I shook my head at the thought. That couldn't have been the case, as there were far too many clothes for one mare to make on her own. Still, she probably had a hand in putting at least some of the outfits together, a thought that made me smile a bit. That thought brought me back to thinking about the rest of my soon-to-be team members.

Each and every one of those mares had been interesting in their own way and not for the first time, I found myself looking forward to working with them all. The smile on my face slipped down to a concerned grimace once my thoughts inevitably brought me to my other soon-to-be team. This one I wasn't so sure about, having met them for myself. It's not like I was a stranger to working with other researchers when the situation called for it.

I generally preferred to work alone when I was in Canterlot, but teamwork wasn't beyond me and I even made a few... well, I wouldn't have called them friends exactly, but I'd garnered a few friendly acquaintances during some of the group projects I worked on. That said, while working with the Doctor seemed painless enough, I was far less sure about Sunset and the twins.

The Retaliation Team had all been interesting in their own way, but the scientists of Ponyville were more... strange in their own way—even Doctor Whooves to some extent. The stallion was nice enough; he had a jovial personality and tried to make us rookies feel welcome. He was approachable and friendly, but there was something oddly... mysterious about him.

I couldn't help but get the impression that he was hiding something sometimes. There were times when his genial attitude didn't feel genuine. And then there were the diminutive unicorn twins, Castor and Pollux. I'd only met them briefly, but in that short amount of time, they'd left an unsettling impression. It wasn't anything they'd said or even how they'd acted really—well, not entirely anyway.

They just kind of gave off this weird, unearthly vibe. Thinking back on it, it was kind of like how I'd heard ponies used to feel whenever they encountered other ponies disguised as changelings back during the Age of War. Something about them felt very, very off, but I couldn't put my finger on what the problem was. I didn't think they were changelings.

For one thing, changelings hadn't had to hide their identity in Equestria since the Age of War. For another, I didn't get the sense that Sunset felt the same way I did from the way she spoke about them. As alien as they seemed though, I also couldn't help but be a bit curious about them. That just left Sunset Shimmer herself and all the baggage that evidently came with the mare.

When I first heard about her, about what she'd done, I was horrified. I wasn't one of the ones who thought she was a monster, but I had thought she may have been a little unhinged. I thought that maybe her ambitions had gotten the better of her and that she needed help—maybe somepony to pull her back to reality. Maybe a therapist or something.

Now, after having spoken to her and listening to her unintentionally heartfelt rant, I didn't know how to feel about the mare. Yes, she had a bit of an abrasive personality, but there was something more there, something genuine and passionate behind the cold and aloof exterior. At least, that's what I got out of our second brief but eventful exchange. Still, it didn't really do me any good to ruminate on my new colleagues.

In the end, only time would tell if I got along with my would-be team of researchers. With the meeting later today coming up, I'd know one way or another soon enough. The more I thought about that meeting the more nervous I got so I chose not to dwell on it too much as I worked. More time passed and just as I was falling into a mind-numbing rhythm of serving the slum-dwelling masses, Sunset called it a day.

Seeker was out the door the moment the mare told us to wrap everything up, not once giving any thought to helping with the cleanup. I guess he wasn't really obligated to help and Sunset didn't bother to say anything about it, but I was still a bit put off by his attitude. I could've left too but I felt bad about leaving everything to Sunset.

And besides that, I'm already scheduled to meet with her and the other two after this anyway.

With my mind made up, I helped Sunset corral the complaining stragglers out of the warehouse. Once that was done the twins came in and helped us return the leftover supplies to the back. When I asked about it, Castor informed me that a certain amount of supplies would continue to be handed out each day until we ran out. All in all the cleanup took about half an hour with none of us really making any kind of small talk.

Strangely, and thankfully, the silence wasn't as awkward as I'd feared it would be. I wouldn't have called it a comfortable silence exactly, but it wasn't painful either. It was as if we all had a mutual understanding that none of us really wanted to talk to each other, but not in an antagonistic sort of way, it was more of a... professional courtesy? Whatever kind of silence it was, I was completely fine with it.

Once we were done I asked Sunset about our ride back to the Branch and apparently, she already had it covered. We locked up and she motioned for me to follow her and the twins out and around the back of the warehouse. There I was surprised to find that Sunset had evidently commandeered an APC for her own personal use. The mare chuckled at my questioning gaze toward the armored vehicle parked just ahead.

"As long as it's regarding Branch business, you're free to use the APCs," she said, answering my unasked question, "you didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't," I replied with a frown and a shake of my head, "I thought you needed a special license from Wendigo to operate a military vehicle."

"Pfft, yeah, in Canterlot," Sunset corrected as she pulled a set of keys from her coat pocket and continued toward the APC, "they're a little more lax about that kind of thing here. If you've got a regular old license that's good enough for the Director."

"Oh," I muttered, following after her and the other two, "I don't even have a regular license so the thought just didn't cross my mind, I guess."

"Wait," Sunset paused and raised a brow in my direction as she was opening the driver's side door, "you don't know how to drive?"

"I never needed to," I replied somewhat defensively, "it wasn't that far a walk to HQ from where I lived and I could just take the bus if I needed to go somewhere else."

"You're in like your, what, mid-twenties, right?" she shook her head in disbelief, "what kind of pony your age in Canterlot doesn't have a license these days?"

"We don't have a license," Castor interjected, pushing past me as she opened the back door and slid into the back seat.

"Seriously?" Sunset replied, raising both eyebrows at the sisters, "neither of you... why am I only now just hearing about this?"

"Why do you think we always ask you to take us everywhere?" Pollux answered as she moved to sit next to her sister in the back, "we figured you already knew."

"And it didn't seem like something worth bringing up," Castor added, "it still doesn't, really."

"Ugh, whatever," Sunset sighed and waved a dismissive hand in my direction, "just... go around the other side and let's go get this meeting over with."

I did as she said with no complaints and a minute later we were screeching down the dirt road back to the Branch. On the way, I decided to strike up a conversation despite my reservations. I thought it might be best to get the ball rolling and build a rapport sooner rather than later. Not to mention I was more than a little curious about the two sitting in the back, even if they did unnerve me a bit.

"So how long have you all been working together?" I asked, turning to Sunset but posing my question to everypony, "Doctor Whooves didn't really say much about who I'd be teamed up with."

"What do you think this little get-together is for?" Sunset replied with a roll of her eyes, "but sure, I'll humor you and your precious attempt at small talk. Might get us out of the stupid team-building exercise the Doc probably has planned for us anyway."

"Uh... team-building exercise?" I asked.

"Don't ask," Sunset groaned, "I like the guy well enough for the most part but his outdated ideas about 'togetherness' and that boundless optimism can get more than a little grating sometimes."

"I think it's charming," Pollux argued, "like an out-of-touch dad trying to connect with his kid."

"I don't trust him," Castor said, "anypony who smiles that much has to be hiding some very dark secrets."

"You think so?" I asked with an uncertain smile.

It was hard to gauge whether or not the twins were being facetious when everything they said was spoken in that same bored monotone.

"Oh yeah, there's no way this stallion doesn't have at least a few skeletons in his closet," Castor answered, leaning forward in her seat with an emphatic nod, "I mean, you've seen it, right? That door in his office? The one on the left with the caution sign?"

"I've seen it, yeah," I replied slowly, "what about it?"

"Castor and I have been working with Time Turner since way before Sunset showed up," Pollux sighed, apparently deciding to humor her sister, "and not once has he ever let us even take a peek inside."

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Sunset chimed in thoughtfully, "the last time I asked him about it he told me that was where he kept all the materials and chemicals too hazardous to keep out in the open, but hey, who knows?" she cast a side glance and conspiratory grin my way, "maybe he's just secretly picking up where I left off?"

I gave the mare an unamused and slightly disapproving frown but that just made her laugh obnoxiously. Setting Sunset's ill-conceived joke, I gave the notion some serious thought. The fact that he might've been keeping hazardous materials in the room made perfect sense. For all Sunset and the other two knew that might been all there was to it.

I, however, happened to know somepony, or rather some dragon, that had not only seen the inside but was treated in that very room. Assuming what he told Sunset was true, would the Doctor have kept Spike in that part of his lab even knowing there were dangerous materials in the same place? If that was the case, what did that say about Doctor Whooves?

I decided to keep that bit of information to myself for now since I had no evidence and wasn't a fan of idle gossip—especially when it was about somepony I was going to be working so closely with. I did have to admit it was a bit strange that the Doctor hadn't let his own team into that part of the lab even once given how long they must've worked with him. I was curious enough to ask Spike about it the next time I saw him, but for the moment I chose to change the subject.

"So you two left Canterlot before Sunset then?" I asked the twins, "or did you join from here in Ponyville?"

The two sisters glanced at each other for a brief second before answering. There was a short but oddly uncomfortable silence in which I began to feel like I'd made some kind of verbal misstep. Then, much to my relief, Pollux shrugged and spoke up.

"We moved here from Canterlot's Outer District ages ago," she explained.

"We moved here from the Northside, specifically," Castor clarified.

"Ah... I see," I replied with a wince, "that, uh... must've been rough."

"Yeah, life sucked for a while," Pollux agreed.

"We definitely had our share of trials and tribulations," Castor said.

"But our suffering paid off in the end," Pollux continued, "through way more effort than I care to remember, my sister and I managed to scrounge up a decent amount of bits, made some connections in the Middle District, and got ourselves a one-way ticket to the Ponyville slums."

"Doesn't sound like much of an upgrade," Castor said, casting a completely unreadable gaze out the window, "but if you ask me, I'd take living in these ramshackle huts any day."

"Hear, hear," Pollux added.

"Oof," Sunset muttered just loud enough for me to hear, "kinda glad I wasn't the one to bring that up."

Setting Sunset's comment aside for the moment, I couldn't help but ruminate on the twin's plight. I was almost certain they were severely downplaying how hard it must've been to make the trip out of Canterlot, but I didn't dare press for more details. I might not have been able to sympathize, but I couldn't blame them for choosing Ponyville's Outer District over their own home.

Canterlot was a city whose districts form three rings from the Outer District to the Middle District where I was born and raised, all the way to the Inner District where all the wealthy ponies and important buildings were located. The further out you went, the poorer the state of the city, and while most of the outermost district was nowhere near the state of Ponyville's Outer District, there was one notable exception.

The Northside, as many Canterlot natives called it, was a roughly 37 kilometer stretch of land at the northern edge of Canterlot. The area was the closest thing Canterlot had to a seedy underbelly. It had all the trappings of what you'd call the 'bad part of town' what with its underdeveloped structures, dark alleys full of scoundrels and the homeless, sketchy markets, and worryingly high crime rates.

I wouldn't have called it a slum exactly, but it certainly was far below the standard of every other part of the city. In many ways, I would've called it a much worse place to live than even Ponyville's slums. At least here everypony seemed to be fairly friendly and close-knit. I'd personally never been to the Northside but I'd heard stories and none of them too flattering, to say the least.

What made the Northside particularly noteworthy—and a large part of the reason the area was the way it was—was because it had been ground zero for one of the worst Avidaeos attacks Canterlot had ever suffered. The attack in question was a two-pronged assault from both the north and south, but the north was hit first and got the worst of it by far.

Incidentally, my dad died defending us in that same attack. The way my brother tells it, most of the Hunter teams were focused on pushing the Avidaeos back in the north. That left the south almost entirely unguarded and the monsters had already breached the wall to the Middle District by the time any nearby teams could put up a proper defense.

My dad had been called out to hold the line, but he wasn't able to meet up with his own squad because he'd been too busy trying to keep us safe. He was able to hold out just long enough for reinforcements to show up but didn't last much longer than that. That was all I knew about the event and I only knew that much because that's what Shining Armor told me.

I wasn't old enough to retain any memories at the time and to this day there's still a ton I don't know about what happened during or directly after the attack—at least where our family was concerned. As for the Northside, we managed to rebuild the outer wall, but for one reason or another, that section of the city had never fully recovered physically or financially.

Cadence and the rest of Canterlot's Council of Royal Delegates had been trying for years to rebuild Northside back to what it used to be with shockingly little to show for their efforts. While there's been some progress in the past, the going has been agonizingly slow. I don't know all the details but my guess is that the Northside restoration project is eating up more resources than we can afford to feed it.

That's usually the case with these kinds of things.

"Did you not know, Sunset?" I asked, returning my attention to the mare sitting next to me, "you all never discussed it before?"

"Nope," Sunset replied with a small shrug, "never cared enough to ask, and frankly I'm surprised you two decided to open up like that."

"What can we say?" Pollux began with another careless shrug.

"Sparkle's indelible charm won us over," Castor finished with an approving nod in my direction.

"Uh... huh. My charm... right," I replied with a tone oozing skepticism. I shook my head and turned to Sunset, "and what about you, Sunset? I don't much about you other than a little about your time working at HQ, and even then I don't much."

"Hmm..." Sunset made a show of thinking over her answer before giving another one of her impish grins, "why don't we keep it that way for now? I think it'd be more fun if at least one of us had a dark mysterious past, don't you?"

"Not really, no," I answered with an unamused scowl, something that I was afraid might become the norm with Sunset, "and it's not like you know my past."

"What's to know?" Sunset scoffed, "you're the standard nerdy girl-next-door type, probably grew up in the Middle District with a proper, modest upbringing," she turned to give me a challenging look, "come on, tell me I'm wrong."

I wanted to argue, and while I wasn't sure about the whole 'nerdy girl-next-door' thing, Sunset had pretty much hit the nail on the head with the rest of her guess. Yes, I could've mentioned the tragedy the befell my family when I was an infant... but I was an infant. I didn't remember any of it and never felt like it affected me nearly as much as my mom or brother.

I didn't feel like I had a right to bring all of that up in this context, so I didn't. And other than the attack on the city, nothing else of note had really happened in my life up until I was hired by Wendigo. Even then, the majority of my time at HQ was spent in relative obscurity—at least until my sudden conscription. Apparently, the ensuing silence was answer enough because Castor was the next to speak up.

"Wow, she's got you pegged, doesn't she?"

"Well excuse me for being boring," I groused, "not everypony has some dark or interesting backstory to share, and I'm pretty sure my current circumstances more than make up for that."

"What, being a conscript?" Sunset raised a brow, "that's nothing new. I knew a few ponies who got drafted into being a Hunter and shipped off to who knows where. They weren't happy about it but hey, that's just how the chips fall sometimes."

"And do you know why I was conscripted for service as a Hunter?" I asked, not quite believing she didn't know my situation given that the Doctor and even Derpy knew. I raised my arm and pulled back my sleeve to better show off the red armlet affixed to my wrist, "do you know why this is a different color than the others?"

Sunset took a moment to pull the APC to a stop in front of the gate leading to the Branch. She looked over to me as the gate slid open and furrowed her brow thoughtfully.

"Huh, come to think of it, I hadn't even noticed," she replied, "but now that you point it out, yeah. I do remember the Doc mentioning something about New Types and special Daeus Arms. I guess that was about you?"

I gave Sunset my best 'are you serious?' look and turned to the twins for some kind of help or explanation. Unfortunately, neither of them had much to say on the matter. Their only response was to shrug and shake their heads. It honestly wasn't like I was proud of my status as a New Type Daeus Hunter or anything, but I guess I'd gotten somewhat used to ponies I'd never met already knowing everything there was to know about my situation.

"Sorry," I said, returning my attention to Sunset, "I'm not really expecting everypony to know about it, but I guess I was just surprised that somepony like you hadn't realized what was going on."

"That's fair," Sunset nodded as if it was completely natural to think she'd be on top of everything, "but I don't really give much thought to the Daeus Hunter side of Wendigo affairs. I kind of just tuned Time Turner out once he started going on about Arms and armlets."

"Sunset, you do know a lot of our research goes toward helping those Hunters protect us from the Avidaeos, right?" I replied with an admonishing frown, "I'm not saying you have to learn everything you can about the Hunters and what they do, but you at least have to respect the work they put in. Not to mention it's their feedback that helps improve our own work."

"Oh for Celestia's sake," Sunset groaned as she pushed the armored car forward through the now open gateway, "I swear, you're worse than Time Turner," she turned to give the twins an incredulous look, "you call this charming? Seriously?"

"Positively adorable," Pollux said without hesitation.

"Cute as a button," Castor agreed wholeheartedly.

Again, I couldn't tell if they were making a joke at mine or Sunset's expense or if they were completely serious. I still found the pair disconcerting, but after hearing about where they came from I could maybe understand how they might've come to be the way they were. That's what I told myself anyway, but in reality, I still wasn't sure. Sunset Shimmer was an anomaly all on her own, one that I didn't expect to understand anytime soon.

As the fiery maned mare shook her head in exasperation and went about parking the APC in the massive garage, I decided to withhold any kind of judgment until I got to know the other three a little better. They weren't like the Retaliation Team who were fairly easy to get along with. After talking with them for a bit though, I felt like a friendship between the four of us at some point in the future wasn't completely impossible.

I suppose that just left Doctor Whooves and what he may or may not have been hiding.

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