> Fallout: Equestria- Arcane Division
>  by ReifuTD
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Fo:E:SP/Silence/New Beginning for an Old Sinner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The mare screams as the Raider stallion penetrates her. He didn’t care witch hole as long as his dick got relief.

“Max? Do you want a go at her!” The Raider smiled at his partner.

The slate blue earth pony with a madded black mane turns away from the window. The buck had a long deep scar across the left side of his muzzle ending at a gash under his eye. A blue rain drop streak in his mane was over his right side. The same blue spot was in a little itty bit of his tale.

He was listening to the radio broadcast.

“The Stable Dweller did it again, She saved Blackwing’s Talons-”

The radio shuts off as the lights flicker.

"Not again someone needs to fix that fucking thing!" The raping Raider snaps.
Max picks up a chipped wood bat off the floor. The thing was permanently stained red with old blood. The buck lifts it and swings.

Thwack!”

>
Years Later,
>

A band of Raiders were being lead chain gang into a transportation wagon. The thing was what used to be called a school bus but now was repaired for other uses.

One of the ponies watching the prisoners was a Steel Ranger. Apples were on the armor’s flank and a six pointed star was welded on the chest. He spots Max in the chain gang of ponies.

“You stop,” The Ranger orders then takes a cheerful tone, “Maximum Drive never thought I’d see you again. So you went Raider I see.”

“Are you happy Thunderdome,” Max said in a flat tone.

Thunderdome looks the buck up and down. His silver badge cutie mark was covered heavily in dirt and a metal brace was now on one of his hind legs. Plus the scar was new too.

“What happened to you?” Thunderdome said with disgust.

Max looked away and stepped onto the bus. He finds a seat in front of a mud green Raider with an orange moa-hawk.

“The names Road Warrior,” He says into Max’s ear, “I remember you, you’re the one that betrayed us. He smirked, “Should have known better then to trust a pony with a police badge cutie mark. Where had you been hiding all these years?”

Max didn’t react to the buck. The bus starts moving and he kept on talking. Thunderdome was at the front of the bus, guns at the ready.

“It seems like you betrayed the Rangers too. You really don’t belong anywhere do you?”

Max looks out his window. The desert was starting to grow grass again. More than enough to sustain a herd of ponies.

“I heard that they are holding us at Arbu Prison before they choose who gets executed. But some transports never make it. Most say it's bandits, but I spoke to a survivor before I gutted him and he said there’s something out there. A force called the Silence. He said it was something like the Goddess.”

Max found himself falling asleep. In his dream he was reliving a memory of the past. A small mare was in his sniper scope. There was some kind of glowing green object for her cutie mark that made the gal easy to spot.

The buck was awaken with a jolt. In front of him water rushed into the bus. The next thing he noticed the bus was empty.

Max scrambles up to the emergency exit. It was welded shut. The pony turns around and after three kicks he bucks it open.

He splashed into the water. It was deep enough to break his fall but shallow enough to stand in.

After reaching shore the blue pony sakes off like a dog. Closest thing to a bath he had in months.

What he recognized as Thunderdome’s armor littered the lake’s beach. If he had to guess the armor clad pony had to dive in the water too. The armor being heavy, the pony had to discharge it.

Max takes slow breaths of the air. It was moist to his lungs. Not shocking to him since the area was covered in a fog.

The buck’s ears twitch for a sound. At first he heard nothing just a deep silence. Then from the fog came an electronic static.

He fallows the sound up the path. It leads him to the skeleton of a rotted pony wedged between some rocks. The green flickering light of a Pipbuck was on the skeleton’s foreleg.

Max touched the device and the pony’s limb fell apart. Scratched deeply in the screen the word “Justice”. Examining the body revealed a Pipbuck key.

Max inserts the key into the Pipbuck. The device unlocks but he felt the key snap inside the lock. The buck was sure once he puts the Pipbuck on it would never come off again. Knowing how powerful the machine was, it was a small price to pay.

The device clicks onto Max’s forehoof. It took a moment for the machine's settings to configure it’s self to the buck’s body.

A red light pops up behind him. The buck spins around swinging his newly required Pipbuck as a weapon.

He smacks the vile undead creature across the skull. As the thing was stunned, Max whacks it again and again with his Pipbuck until the thing hit the ground. The beast twitched around in the dirt. Max stomps its head finishing the thing off.

A smell of smoke was on the air. It was mixing with the fog. Sensing something wrong Max runs up the path.

He heard the screams first. It brought him memories, like bad dreams. Memories of his silver coated wife and his rusty young buck of a son.

An image of fire was before him. Max could feel the fire like dragon’s breath.

Road Warrior was laughing at the blaze. “Burn baby burn!”

Screams could be heard coming from inside the building. They cause the memories of the burned bodies of Max’s family to crawl into his mind.

The blue buck runs into the burning building.

“What you’re doing man,” Road Warrior shouts.

Max finds a badly burned body. He rolls the pony on a blanket and drags it out to the front yard.

As Max takes a breath to recover, the memories took over.

“Mr. Soulbuck,” A doctor speaks to him, “Your son died from his injuries. At this point we are not sure your wife is going to make it.”

Road Warrior's hoof goes down in the burnt pony’s skull. “What’s the point of setting them on fire if you are going to save them.”

“No!” Max slams the buck into a tree.

“You know make you used to be fun,” Road Warrior smirks.

“You know me?” Max snaps.

“What changed that day?” Road Warrior asks.

Thwack!

Max’s memories went back in time. He had struck the buck so hard with the bat that the top of his skull blew off.

The mare the Raider was raping kicks away and franticly runs off. She was so bowlegged that she kept loosing traction falling on her way out the door.

Max found himself back in the now. He headbutts Road Warrior knocking the buck out.

When Road Warrior awakes he found his hind hoof chained to a tree. Max was pouring gasoline onto the buck.

“What are you doing man!” Road Warrior shouts.

Max replied by tossing him a hack saw. “I’d suggest you start cutting. It be faster to cut through your leg.”

Max bucks the tub of gasoline over and walks away. The liquid quickly flows downhill. Road Warrior screams and starts sawing at the chain. The saw breaks as the gasoline hits the flaming house.

Whoosh!

Fire shoots up hill.

Max found himself wondering the streets of a town. It looked familiar. Like Ponyville but like how it would look before the Raiders violated it. Only it was silent sterile and covered in fog.

In the fog Max thought he saw the silver flank of his wife.

“B!” He shouts running to the mare.

The buck chased her into an abandon building. His head whooshed as he suddenly found himself in a blood covered hell worst then he ever seen.

Dead ponies raise up from the blood, dozens of them. They triggered a memory.

Max strips the weapons off his Raider companion that he almost be headed. He finds a nice little shank.

The blue Raider buck makes his way to the room where a bunch of his Raider companions slept.

Max started with a mare. She smelt like filth and fornication. He thought of all the ponies he had helped them rape and kill as he silently stick the shiv into each one of their necks.

The last one didn't go quietly. The two bucks struggled. Max had to push down on his throat until the Raider stopped moving.

Back in the now. Max stumbles outside the building. More zombies of ponies he killed was waiting for him. Too many to fight off without a weapon.

In a panic the former Raider runs. Up ahead he sees the water tower. More memories flood him. This time of the pony with the green cutie mark in his scopes.

Max starts climbing the ladder. The whole time he climbed the game of cat and mouse he played with the green cutie marked mare went through his head.

Once he reached the top, To his surprised the green cutie mark mare was waiting for him. Her eyes glowed in the darkness. They glowed back then too. A detail Max was sure he added in his head after the fact.

It was just before he got the scar on his muzzle and his wounded leg. Max was searching the mare through his scope. Suddenly a bright green glow blinds him from his left side.

The mare with her horn emitting magic energy, she rams him down the side of his face. The horn gashed down his muzzle permanently scarring it with a magical wound.

The last thing the buck saw before he went over was the mare’s eyes. He crashed to the ground and hurt the knee cap in his back leg. It didn’t heal right after that.

Later he would hear about the mare's exploits over the radio. Something about those stories changed his heart. Gave him hope and would later come down to his decision to murder his Raider companions.

Now the mare stood in front of him once more only it wasn’t the mare. He didn’t know when but she turned into a copy of Max himself this one unscarred.

“Do you know who I am?” The copy Max asks.

“Yes,” Max answers, “The one who was not brought to justice.”

“That’s what you call it?” Copy Max replied, “Your virtue, your excuse to murder.”

“After I killed all of them I tried to eat my gun,” Max said sternly, “Being the last of the filth to retribution. But I didn’t have the strength to pull the trigger.”

“Well I’m here now!” The copy Max shouts, “Punish me!”

Max tackles his copy sending them both over the railing of the water tower.

Suddenly it was day light as they crashed into a pile of sticks. Max in the struggle stands up to find that he is alone.

“Max?”

Max turns to see his silver coat wife in a state of udder confusion.

“B?” Max spoke out.

“Don’t call me that!” The mare cries.

“Thunderdome,” Max gave the mare a hard look.

“Stay away!” The mare Thunderdome backs away.

“That’s all you got to say to me!” Max snaps, “I saved your hide. I hid that you tried to kill yourself and killed our son!”

“I killed our son?” Thunderdome said in shock, “Are you that delusional that that's the lie you told yourself?”

“Lie?” Max questioned.

“I divorced you,” Thunderdome snaps, “You hit us both me and your son. When we moved to a different battalion barracks you found us and burned our house down!”

Tears flowed from Thunderdome’s eyes.

“No that’s not true!” Max shouted.

“You always been violent," Thunderdome snaps. "Why did you think you joined Raiders.”

“But this can’t be,” Max cries, “I’ve been better than that.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Thunderdome spat.

Max holds his head, “Ever since that mare, that fall, I have been trying to do better! I killed them all. All the Raiders because of…”

“Fall?” Thunderdome’s ears perk up. “What fall?”

“The fall that mangled my leg,” Max explains.

“You didn’t hit your head did you?” Thunderdome asks.

“I remember a concussion?” Max answers.

“You son of a bitch you forgot,” Thunderdome snaps, “Heck, you and I seen brain injuries on the battlefield. You could be a whole new buck.”

“The me that hit you, the me that burned our son alive, the me that became a Raider, Raping the murdering the innocent is basically dead?” Max said in shock.

“You are still a violent buck,” Thunderdome answers, “You killed all those Raiders well they slept.”

Max takes a moment to contemplate.

“I’m no more violent than anyone else,” He finally answered, “I seen with my own eyes an innocent stable mare turn into one of the most violent ponies on the wasteland. She did no worst then I. Thunderdome, Thank you for releasing me from my past.”

“Thank you?” The mare gave a confused look. Suddenly she gasps and holds her chest. The pony coughs up water.

“I see now,” Max gives the mare a sad look.

“See what? What’s happening to me,” Thunderdome gasps for air.

“Let it go dear,” Max told the pony. “You’re dead.”

“No! No! No!” Thunderdome screams.

Tears roll down her face as the mare collapses to the ground. Slowly she stops moving.

Max finds himself clinching Steel Ranger armor. The helmet had been removed to reveal a face of a silver coat mare. Max’s tears fall on her muzzle.

There was a click of a cocking revolver. It was one of two guns. Both colts of same make with a custom yellow bee decal in the hilts.

At the end of the colts was a female Griffon. Behind her stood a lavender unicorn with a dark blue mane. The unicorn looked a little strange in her anatomy like she wasn’t normal.

“Freeze!” The Griffon shouts

“Who the heck are you?” Max snaps.

“Melissa Featherborn agent of the New Cantolot Republic,” The Griffon answers.

The unicorn horn glows pink “I sense the anomaly we were fallowing has disappeared.” She then looks at Max. “You have residue on you.”

Melissa spots the Pipbuck on Max’s forehoof. She gets excited. “Well that's rare.”

____
“Ponies of the former wasteland, Let me tell you a story, it’s about forgiveness not just for others but of one’s own past. I’m sure you all know that Arbu Prison is where we keep a lot of the captured Raiders. There's so many that they started executing them just to make room. Some of you might say a Raider is beyond forgiveness. But I’ve heard stories of those who have been pulled from the brink of the old world to rise and become something more in this new world. Something better, before you pass judgment ask your self are you a different pony now then back then? Is there hope? A new beginning for us old sinners? DJ-Pon3 Homage signing out.”

> IDW/Goops/How Unity Tried to get Its Groove Back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The lavender unicorn calling herself Troja scans Max’s Pipbuck with her horn.

“This has the same energy signature as a Discord artifact,” The strange mare remarks.

“Discord artifact?” Max asks. He had been identified as an escaped prisoner and rearrested by the government officials.

“They are very rare, Objects created by or altered by Discord. They emit magical radiation,” Melissa explains, “But it’s the Pipbuck its self that intrigues me. They are the new swords of this world.”

“New swords?” Max shakes his head.

“Ancient legends tells tales of magical swords,” Melissa explains, “Some say they are made from star metal. Those who hold these swords can conquer the world.”

“Well Pipbucks are more common then star metal swords,” Max remarks.

“My point still stands there’s less than a thousand active Pipbucks out there and most in Junction Town,” Melissa points out.

The griffon and unicorn leads the fugitive buck to a red pickup wagon.

“Convoy where is the nearest settlement in the direction we are heading?” Melissa speaks to the wagon.

“There is a small Followers of the Apocalypse outpost station thirty clicks from here,” The wagon replied.

“That wagon talks?” Max said shocked.

“Yes and no, He’s a creature that takes over machines,” Troja explains.

“More than that,” Melissa boasts, “I found him in the old Diamond Dog mines.”

Melissa, Troja and Max hunkered down in the bed of the wagon. The machine starts up and rides into the desert.

“What are you going to do with me?” Max asks.

“Good question,” Melissa pauses to think, “I suppose I’ll hand you off to the next marshal unit we come across. They are Raider hunters after all.”

Melissa looks to Troja for an opinion.

“I sense hostility and uneasiness,” The unicorn answers, “No specific threats. I think whatever we decide to do he’ll comply.”

“Really,” Melissa gets a smirk on her face.

“What was that just now?” Max points at Troja.

“I’m an empath,” Troja answers, “I sense emotions. If I really try read minds.”

“Useful for a government official,” Max remarks, “Just what does…”

“Arcane Division,” Melissa answers.

“Yes,” Max nods his head, “Do?”

“We investigate and detain dangers of the wasteland of a special significance,” Melissa replied, “Monsters have been a big problem of late. There are also old war and present day fringe experiments. A new one of those makes light every week. We find the nature of these things.”

“Don’t we have heroes for that?” Max remarks.

“A government should protect its people, or allow the people with means of protecting themselves.”

“It would be a griffon merc to think that way,” Max smirks.

“True,” Melissa laughs, “But I’m a merc who has official government authorities giving to me by Gawd herself.”

Troja starts coughing. She takes out a canteen of water. Heats it with her magic, then mixes a potion into it.

“What’s up with her?” Max asks trying to get a look at the lavender unicorns flank. Her cutie mark as of a granite horse head. “I can tell she’s not a normal unicorn.”

“That's her business,” Melissa answers.

Troja had drifted off to sleep.

By the prewar signs laying about as they reached the outpost station, it was once an organic farm owned by some ponies called Wheat Grass and Flax Seed.

Before the Gardens of Equestria was activated this was one of the lesser contaminated areas just outside of Ponyville. Now it was even more flush with living plants and blossoming with life then it had been.

Troja wakes up as the party pulls to the farming outpost. She gets a strange look on her face.

“What's the matter?” Melissa asks.

“Not sure,” Troja answers, “Keep your guard up, the minds around here are different.”

They were greeted by a farm hand and three alicorns. Two purple ones and one green.

Troja gave then a confused look, “Sisters? All of you are still female? Shouldn’t one of you have had gender placement by now?

“We opted out of the herd family unit,” The green alicorn answers.

“Really?” Troja questioned.

“Yet you are not the norm sister,” The green alicorn remarks, “Where’s my manners.” The alicorn looks at Troja’s companions, “I’m Radiant Step, My two companions are Poppaloo and Frosted Flower.”

“I’m Melissa Featherborn officer of the NCR. I have a prisoner with me. I don’t think he's going to be a hassle but I suggest a room that locks on the outside.”

“I have door sealing magic,” Radiant Step answers.

Melissa whispers to the wagon, “Convoy you think you’d be okay on your own?”

“Yes,” The machine answers.

Radiant Step leads the way with Melissa and Max fallowing her.

“So? Troja is an alicorn?” Max remarks as he walked.

“We are individuals now,” Radiant Step answered, “I don’t know what happened to her.”

Along the way an old wooden barrel falls off a pull wagon. It cracks open splattering flowery smelling blue slime.

The smell caused Max to cover his nose. Melissa on the other hand takes in the scent.

“What is that wonderful smelling stuff?” The griffon purred.

“The markings on the side of the barrel says Goops,” Radiant Step answers, “They been here for hundreds of years. Over that time they absorbed so much radiation they became toxic. Now that the lands are purified, they are purified. We are moving them to sell.”

“Oh? How much for a vile?” Melissa asks.

“We are figuring out the proper pricing right now. But if you are willing to do some work around the farm in exchange?”

“Sounds like a deal,” Melissa smiles, “let me put this trash away.”

The griffon shoves Max causing him to step in the goo. When the buck pulled his hoof away it stretched out in a long string before breaking off with a snap.

After putting the con in his room, Melissa walks down stairs to the lodging/farm community room. Troja watched the two lavender alicorns and a ghoul breathe in from a white device known as a balefire bong.

Yes, that is as dangerous as it sounds. Alicorns and ghouls use them to take in the radiation they need to live.  It also gives them a charge and a slight feeling of euphoria. The more hits they take the more charged they become.

The most dangerous thing about balefire bongs is, if someone got pissed off enough and smashed one against the floor everyone in the room would die in an explosion.

“Sister,” Poppaloo speaks up passing the BF bong to Troja.

“No, I have other ways,” The mutie unicorn gives the bong back to the alicorn.

“What do you mean by other ways?” Poppaloo asks.

Troja takes out her potion packet. “This allows me to live without radiation. But as you see it has some side effects.”

“Your wings?” Frosted Flower points out.

Troja sighs, “Hopefully a day comes when I don’t need the potion anymore.”

“Troja come here,” Melissa orders well trying to hide that fact.

The unicorn trots over to the griffon.

“So that strange feeling you had?” Melissa asks.

“I think my power to sense emotions is being blocked by the green one,” Troja answers, “They are hiding something.”

“Okay, I’ll mingle and see what I can dig up,” Melissa tells the unicorn.

“Go watch our prisoner and see if you can get a better read on him.”

Frosted Flower takes a hit from the balefire bong and gives a blushing smile to Melissa.

“I’m sensing sexual desire for you coming from that one,” Troja points out.

“Thanks for the tip,” Melissa rolls her eyes.

“If she kisses you, take some Rataway,” Troja warns as she walks up stairs.

As she approached the door, Troja’s horn tingled sensing two entities behind it. She releases a mental ping.

By the time the ping hit Melissa. Frosted Flower was starting to introduce herself to the griffon as the first step to get under her tail.

Both of them felt it. Melissa stronger and the alicorn only because she was so close to her.

“Is your girlfriend jealous?” Frosted Flower remarks blushing.

“I need to check on her,” The griffon excused herself.

“What’s the matter?” Melissa asks as she walks up to the mutie unicorn.

There are two people on the other side of the door,” Troja points out, “The strange thing is one of them. Max I’m sure is sleeping. I have no idea who or what the other is.”

The griffon pulls out her pistols and kicks open the door. This awakes Max from his slumber.

(So she was right about the buck sleeping,) The griffon remarks in her head.

“What’s going on?” Max asks as Melissa inspects the seemingly empty room.

The only thing out of place to her was a blue puddle of goops on the floor giving the room a flower scent to it.

“Was there anyone else in here with you,” Melissa demands to Max.

“No,” Max replied.

“What’s going on up here?” Frosted Flower or Poppaloo [Really doesn’t matter they look alike,] demands. The other alicorn came up the stairs behind her.

“Troja thought she sensed another life form in this room,” Melissa explains, “Anyone or anything here that would?”

The two alicorns look at each other. “No,” They said at the same time.

Melissa sighs, “Very well, Troja stay here. I’ll go and find some tools to fix the door.”

Melissa and the alicorns leave the area.

“Now what?” Max remarks.

Troja’s horn glows. “I still sense a life form.” She waves her horn back and forth stopping at the goops on the floor. “Is this alive?”

The slime twitches causing the mutie unicorn to squeal. Suddenly the goops lunges at her. Max puts his hoof down on the thing. It was slowly slipping from his grip.

“Lift your foot now!” Troja yells.

Max pulls away just as a stream of fire shoots from Troja’s horn burning the goops creature.

“What the heck was that!” Troja snaps catching her breath.

Max scans the thing with his Pipbuck, “This says two hundred years old plant oil, bees wax and egg whites fused with bacteria and mutated after sitting in radiation. Also it’s expensive as shit.”

“Why do you think it came after me?” Troja remarks looking at the smudge pile.

“Well that bit came from when I stepped in a puddle that leaked from a barrel that they were transporting. The thing is it didn’t go crazy around me.” Max points out.

“Is that radioactive?” Troja asks.

“Yes,” Max replied as he waved his Pipbuck at the thing.

“Maybe this thing seeks out radiation?” Troja suggests, “Since I'm technically an alicorn, I have a much higher amount then you. Heck the potions I take contain bacteria that absorb radiation.”

“Okay, if they only attack alicorns? There is a ton of this stuff. Shouldn’t the alicorns know this is dangerous to them?”

“Humm,” Troja thinks for a moment. “This stuff is sentient, if it infects people it could cloud their minds like the interference I’m getting off of my sisters.”

“Wait? Infect?” Max points out, “Radiant Step is trying to sell this stuff to the outside world. Shit these things will attack everyone of you.”

“Life finds away to survive,” Troja points out.

Troja tries pinging Melissa again.

“That isn’t going to work this time sister!”

“Aaah!” Troja screams.

“What happened?” Max asks.

“They know and are blocking me from contacting Melissa,” Troja answered well holding her head.

“What about that vehicle? Convoy?” Max asks.

“I’m sure they are blocking everything,” Troja shakes her head. “Besides only Melissa can contact him mentally. There was something else I sensed about my sisters. It’s like their minds are linked again like we were with the Goddess.” Troja looks down at the burnt blob of bacteria one more time, “Many beings acting as one. If this reaches my people we will be lost forever.”

“Then unchain me you need my help,” Max tells the mutie unicorn.

“I don’t know,” Troja replied, “I sense your sincerity to help but there is great violence with in you.”

“I want to do better, be better,” Max replied with a smile.

They hear the sound of ponies running up the stairs.

“Too, late for debate,” Max snaps.

Troja unlocks Max’s bindings.

“Don’t hurt them to bad!” Troja shouts as the doorway fills with ponies, “These are farmers we are dealing with!”

Max nods his head in reply. Troja swiftly fires a magic missile. Well the ponies were stunned, Max slips into SATS. He melees the ponies with his hooves knocking them all out before his SATS ran out.

“How’s that for not hurting,” Max remarks taking some of the farm pony’s guns.

“Acceptable,” Troja replied.

They reached down stairs. The community room was empty.

“Augh, Where could Melissa be?” Troja groans scanning the room.

“She was mingling with the residents,” Max points out, “They could easily catch her off guard.”

Ka-bush!

Suddenly one of the lavender alicorns crashed through the wall with a big red and blue pony shaped robot. The robot pushes the alicorn against the bar table and punches her in the face until unconscious. Then tosses her body on the floor.

Max aims his gun at the robot.

“Stop! That’s Convoy!” Troja shouts.

“He’s a giant robot?” Max says shocked.

“Cybertronian,” Convoy replied.

“Or you can call him a transformer,” Troja adds.

“Who are you people,” Max shakes his head.

“Like the boss said, Arcane Division,” Troja answers.

“Sorry about your alicorn friend, I would have tried a peaceful solution but she attacked first,” Convoy apologize as he gives Troja a shot gun.

“It’s okay,” She tells the robot.

“Speaking of boss, she’s in the next house over,” Convoy points out.

Max and Troja kicks the front door of the house open. Convoy being larger stayed outside.

A commotion was happening up stairs. Soon Melissa and one of the lavender alicorns assumed to be Frosted Flower crashed down the stairs.

Frosted Flower gets to her feet. Melissa was on her back trying to strangle the alicorn with a bed sheet. The creature tries to buck the griffon off. Soon she trips and falls to the floor. After a few seconds of kicking the alicorn stops moving.

Melissa releases the creature and gets to her feet. She then spots Troja and Max watching her.

“Don’t say it,” The griffon snaps.

“You road that pony,” Troja smirks.

Melissa grits her beak, then notices Max. “I see you let the dog loose.”

“As far as we can tell the alicorns have been taken over by sentient shampoo,” Troja explains.

“And those bastards were going to give me that stuff,” Melissa snaps.

“We need to find the goops and destroy them,” Max points out.

“With two of the alicorn down and the towns people scattered I should be able to find the slime.”

They located a couple of wagons full witch Convoy destroyed with a flame thrower battle saddle like weapon that popped from his sides.

Finally Troja leads them to the cellar where the goops were stored. Melissa leads the way her guns drawn. Max and Troja walked behind her.

The griffon flips on the light revealing a hundred barrels of goops.

“How are we going to get rid of all of this?” Troja asks.

“I think Convoy can unhook his flame throwers,” Melissa points out, “We have to take them down here and light these things up our selves.”

They heard a commotion outside and Convoy yell out in pain. The party rushes out to see Radiant Step standing over Convoy’s mangled body. The alicorn’s eyes glowed flame green.

Radiant step smashes Convoy’s head into pieces with her hoof. A blue light shoots from the robot’s chest and hits Melissa in the stomach. She screams and passes out.

“Melissa!” Max shouts.

“She’s fine,” Troja assures the buck, “It’s a side effect of his connection to her!”

Radiant Step takes out a balefire bong and starts inhaling deeply from it. She pulls it away from her mouth and speaks. “Sister? Why do you oppose us? Don’t you miss the unity? Miss being something more.”

Troja shakes her head, “No sister, I don’t, My wish is to be normal. Like what I used to be.” Tears stream down Troja’s face, “I want the love ones I left behind in my other life to look me in the face and know who I am!”

“Then di-“

Boom!

Max had slipped into SATS and sniped the balefire bong. It explodes knocking the green alicorn back.

“Max!” Troja cries.

“You saw her!” Max snaps, “She was jazzing off that thing!”

“Aaaahh!” Radiant Step stands up most of her body burned but it was also healing from the balefire radiation.

Behind Max and Troja they could hear a cracking noise coming from the cellar. Max grabs Melissa as they dodge a wave of goops.

“No! No! Stay away!” Radiant Step screams as the slime covers her body.

After the goops suffocated the alicorn it starts reaching for Troja. 

“No!” Troja screams.

The slime takes her body. Suddenly it changed from blue to orange and starts falling apart. Troja takes in a deep breath as the smile dies around her mouth.

>

“You’re sure this will work?” Melissa asks.

“Yes,” Troja answers as she pours a packet of her potion down the throat of one of the tied up alicorns. “It had to be the potion in my system that killed the goops.”

Suddenly the lavender alicorn snorts out orange slime.

“Good, if that didn’t work I would have had to put a bullet in their heads to stop this infestation,” Melissa snaps.

“Would you have to be so cold hearted?” Convoy asks from within the griffon’s womb.

“I have a country of people to protect,” Melissa answers.

“And about me?” Max asks

“I still think you’re a loaded gun,” The griffon answers, “But until we reach back to home base welcome to the team.”

Melissa extents a claw to the pony. He gave a puzzled look for a moment. Finally getting it, Max puts his hoof in the claw and they shake.

After seeing both alicorns were cured. The Arcane Division members found another pickup wagon. The griffon exhales blue energy that enters into the machine. The wagon turns red. The group climbs in the back and they drive off down the road.

A ghoul watches them drive off. As he watched blue slime leaks out his eyes.
___
“Former ponies of the wasteland, I know in the years before the great change we have lost many things. Some of use struggle to get the things that were lost back, but with every two steps forward, I can honestly tell you there is only one step back. All I ask you to do is to step along side me. DJ-Pon3 Homage signing out.”

> Fo:E:SP/Pipbucks/Evolution of a Horse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The four member team of Arcane Division drives into a small town. It was a bustle with Steel Rangers.

“It appears they are gearing up for war,” Convoy notes.

“They don’t have the mind set of those who have reserved themselves to having to kill another pony in battle,” Troja points out, “This feels like people trying to stop a natural disaster.”

“Yeah this is much worst then the mission brief said it was,” Melissa points out.

“So this was where you were heading to when you picked me up,” Max remarks.

“Arcane Division?” A Steel Ranger asks as he walks up.

“Yes,” Melissa answers.

“They said you would pull up in a red vehicle, Sioux Falls is waiting for you down in her lab for the debrief.” The Ranger told them, “She also requested us to capture a spritebot for some reason?”

“Good bring it here,” Melissa orders.

Melissa gets out of the wagon and breathes in sucking the blue energy from it. The shiny red paint job disappears. The griffon then exhales the energy into the spritebot. The machine turns blue and morphs into Convoy’s head.

“My goddess? What is it?” The Steel Ranger said in shock.

“I might need to do that with a Steel Ranger armor in the future,” Melissa tells the Ranger.

(Hopefully with no one in it,) The Ranger deadpans, “Yes sir.”

The four was led to a morgue’s building.

The first sight they saw was of ponies with their stomachs cut open. In the back of the room a pegasus was rushing from one piece of lab equipment to another.

The pegasus was granite purple with a grass green mane and wearing a cowpony hat. Two feathers were on her ear. She had a pair of waterfalls rushing over red stone as her cutie mark.

“Sioux Falls?” Melissa speaks in an ordering tone.

“Miss Featherborn you made it,” Sioux Falls remarks looking up. “I thought something happened to you.”

“Brought a sample for you,” The griffon puts a small glass flask with a little bit of blue liquid on the table. “Something we ran into on the way here. It’s living shampoo that takes over the minds of alicorns.”

“Is it connected to the Discord effect?” Sioux Falls asked as she looked at the contents inside the vile.”

“No,” Troja answers, “But we did come across the roaming anomaly called Silence. The buck behind me was exposed to it.”

“Sioux Falls,” The mare introduced herself to Max, “Former Enclave cryptobiologist.”

“Max,” The buck answers.

“His Pipbuck is like a Discord artifact,” Troja explains, “It’s from that abnormality we were tracking.

“Uhg, Don’t get me started with pipbucks,” Sioux Falls rolls her eyes.

“Beg pardon?” Melissa raises in eye brow.

“That’s what we call these creatures that showed up,” Sioux Falls explains as she leds the group to the another room.

“Sorry about the appearance. We couldn’t figure out how the creature was reproducing so as a last resort we poured acid on and in its genitals and hoped for the best.” Sioux Falls warns as she pulls back a sheet covered cage.

Before them in the cage was a hairless pony shaped creature. The thing’s eyes were seal shut with a layer if skin. Its rear end and crotch burned black leaving an open pussing wounds.

Convoy turns and leaves.

Sioux Falls gives a concerned look.

“I’ll talk to him later,” Melissa answers.

“Okay,” Sioux Falls nods her head, “First of all, this creature by its self is not dangerous. It’s herbivorous.”

The pony pulls back the creature’s lips to show its teeth.

“Like I said we had to stop the creature from breeding,” The pony continued, “It seems they have the ability to make clones of its self through its female sex organs. Its sperm is worst.” Sioux Falls picks up a jar of white goo. “When exposed to a small amount of it, it acts like Mint-als. Large exposure puts the brain in a deep euphoria state. The locals were using it as a drug. What they didn’t know is this.”

The pegasus mare smashes the jar open. What looks to be worms crawl out of the broken glass and goo.

“Okay that’s just gross,” Melissa cringes, “What am I looking at?”

“Parasite worms,” Sioux Falls answers before blow torching the creatures, “These things don’t just give birth vaginally. They can reproduce from a single sperm cell. Not only that but they are cannibalistic. In a few days that jar would have had only one very big worm. Anyone that was using this stuff as a drug would have been infecting themselves.”

“The busted stomachs we saw when we came in,” Max points out.

“Yes, another method of reproduction,” Sioux Falls nods.

“What happens to the worms who don't grow in people?” Troja asks, “Do they seek out hosts or do they just die?”

“It appears the worms want to latch onto a host but they don’t burrow in. We haven’t let them live long enough to see what happens after that. I’m hoping we get to see the full extent of how these things work when we explore the farm they first attacked.”

“I see,” Melissa turns to Troja, “Your read?”

“These things have a faint Discord signature,” The lavender pony answers.

“Very well,” Melissa nods, “Sioux Falls, When do you think we can head into the farm?”

“Soon this evening,” The pegasus answers, “I want to give you guys some rest.”

“Then we shall meet back together in four hours,” Melissa orders.

The griffon walks out of the morgue building. She stops a passing by pony. Most likely a Ranger out of armor.

“Have you seen a blue spritebot that looks like a head?”

She points at the roof of a nearby building.

“Thanks,” The griffon replied taking to the air.

She lands near the spritebot.

“Convoy!” Melissa shouts in an angry demanding tone.

The cybertronian turns to look at her.

Melissa's voice takes a kinder gentler tone. “Want to talk about it?”

“I couldn’t stay in that room knowing that a living being was put to harm like that,” Convoy answers.

Melissa sighs, “Convoy you’re a soul too good for your own good. When I found you, I sensed that good also the wariness of war torn at your heart. I’m sorry that you’re attached to me so.” Pats the spritebot on the back. “Now come on we both could use some sleep.”

Melissa and Convoy heads to the momentary barrack. One of the old inns that the Steel Ranger’s used for sleeping quarters.

Before Melissa took to bed, She sucks in all of Convoy’s energy into her leaving the spritebot an empty shell. When she laid down, the warmth of the cybertronian inside her belly overcomes her and the griffon falls into a relaxing sleep.

After a few hours, a wakeup call awakes the griffon from her slumber.

“Convoy? How do you feel about sticking with me for a hunt?” Melissa yawns.

“Sometimes I wish you were a pony,” The robot soul grumbled from within her.

Melissa rondevued with her team with a half eaten snake in her talons. By half eaten she had bit off one of its two heads.

“Don’t tell me you picked that up from the field,” Sioux Falls rolls her eyes.

“Do you really think my stomach can handle MREs made for ponies?” Melissa remarks.

“We are in a quarantine zone you know,” Sioux Falls answers.

“You know I can fly pretty far on my wings?” The griffon points out.

Sioux Falls blushed, “Well yeah my point still stands.”

Melissa breathes the spark of life into an empty Steel Ranger armor.

“Ready for battle?” The griffon asks the machine.

“I hope there is no coming battle,” Convoy replied testing his leg joints.

Steel Rangers accompanied the team on the way to the farm. They road in two vehicles one for the Arcane team and one for the Steel Rangers.

When they reached the farm there were a few pipbuck creatures standing about. Sioux Falls tells Melissa to give the okay to shoot the creatures.

Convoy gets a stern look on his face as he watched the Steel Rangers fire upon the helpless creatures.

“Are you going to be okay?” Melissa asks her robot friend.

“I get that this is a quarantine,” Convoy answers, “But seeing these ponies  kill other pony like creatures gets to me.”

“Okay, all the pipbuck things are dead but my ESF still says enemies?” Max points out.

Melissa looks at the Steel Ranger captain in charge. A buck named Puzzler.

“I’m sensing the same thing on my ESF,” He answers.

“There are life forms underground,” Troja points out with her glowing horn, “They feel predatory.”

A Ranger fires at the ground. Red dots start to move toward the impact sight.

“They seem to be attracted to vibration sir,” The mare told Puzzler.

“A gunshot would attract anything’s attention,” Melissa points out as she tosses out a canteen from the vehicle she was standing in. It hits the ground with a loud “Donk”. “What did that do?”

“Nothing,” Max replied, "The creatures didn't react at all."

“See there’s more to factor then just sound,” The griffon points out.

“Maybe how hard it hits the ground factors in,” Puzzler waves off.

“Why would they be so picky to attack?” Sioux Falls adds, “There is a condition here that we haven’t met.”

“We don’t even know what we are detecting,” Puzzler snaps, “And I suspect we won’t know until we get off these blasted machines.”

“I suspect we are dealing with pipbuck worms,” Sioux Falls answers, “I think they sees us as food and that’s what's setting off the EFS.”

“Those little things? We don’t have anything to worry about,” Puzzler laughs, “Okay ponies disembark. Knuckle you stay here.

The Steel Rangers set foot on the ground. Nothing adverse happened. Melissa sighs in relief and gives the okay for her people to disembark.

Troja was the first to set hoof on ground. A worm suddenly shoots up and attached it’s self to her ankle. Two more creatures jumps out of the ground sucking on to her thigh and rump.

“Back on the vehicles!” Puzzler orders.

Melissa quickly pulls the unicorn back into the vehicle as two more worms latch onto her underbelly. The unicorn appeared to be in shock from the sudden attack.

Max and Melissa start to grab the worms.

“Do not touch them!” Sioux Falls snaps, “There like lamprey.” The pony remarks looking at the wiggling worms attached to Troja’s flesh, “Emphasis on the ‘land’ part.”

“Why did they attack her and not us?” Puzzler demands.

“ ‘Steel’ Rangers don’t have exposed flesh for one,” Sioux Falls remarks as she tries to pull one of a worms off.

Troja lets loose a squeak of pain as the worm creature was ripped from her. The wound squirts a lot of blood.

“You! Max! Cover that wound!” The pegasus orders then turns to the worm she pulled off. “I think it went after her body heat. This indeed appears to be a blood sucker.”

“Less talking and more getting them off of her!” Melissa snaps.

“We can’t rip them all off like I just did,” Sioux Falls explains, “She’ll bleed to death.”

“Allow me to fix that,” Convoy holds up his hoof. It was glowing red hot. He puts his hoof on the worm creature. It dies letting go. He then puts his hoof on the wound cauterizing it. The robot repeats the same with all the worms. Troja became unconscious from the pain. They then poured Healing Potions on all the wounds.

“Well she’s stable,” Sioux Falls remarks, “What you want to do?”

“Sure she’s stable?” Melissa asks, “Will taking her back to the base have any effect on her recovery?”

“No,” Sioux Falls answers.

“So, What are we going to do?” Puzzler asks.

The griffon gives her orders. “Max stay here and watch over Troja. Convoy you accompany the Steel Rangers on ground. Sioux Falls and I can fly so we can travel from building to building without need to touch the ground.”

“The farm house is the closest building,” Puzzler points out.

Melissa nods her head in agreement.

Her and Sioux Falls land on the house roof. They entered the second floor through a window.

They came upon a mangled body lying on the bed. At least most of it was on the bed. As Sioux Falls examines the body, Melissa checks the rest of the upper floor room.

“We found something up here!” The griffon shouts.

Puzzler and Convoy came upstairs to meet them.

“This was done by a predator feeding,” Sioux Falls points out.

“We found two more down stairs. Could those pipbuck things do this?” Puzzler asks.

“I don’t think so, Plant eaters remember,” Sioux Falls answers.

“Ponies eat meat,” Puzzler replied.

“Yeah if its cut up processed or cooked in some way,” Sioux Falls adds, “If not, then only small creatures like bugs, mice and tiny birds.”

“I get your point,” Puzzler rolls his eyes from behind his helmet.

“I take back what I said about wanting to be connected to a pony,” Convoy whispers to Melissa. “At least you don’t have a choice about eating other creatures to live.”

“Could the worms do this?” Melissa asks Sioux Falls.

“If they changed to something different,” The pegasus answers.

“Okay, Can you do a quick check of the barn out back?” Puzzler asks, “I’ll take my men to the houses next door.”

Sioux Falls and Melissa fly to the barn. Like before they entered through a window.

The top floor was used for storing hay. Not top hay, The kind of hay ponies fed to brahmin. The hay was dropped down through a hole in the floor.

Sioux Falls looks down the hole and gasped in horror. Melissa looks down to see a bunch of living brahmin covered in blood sucking worms of various sizes.

“Help us!” They cried.

“They were just left here,” Sioux Falls said in shock.

“Puzzler! You need to head to the barn now!” Melissa shouts into her communication device.

Sioux Falls aims and fires with two shots hitting a brahmin. One bullet for each head.

“Sioux? What are you doing?” Melissa snaps hitting the gun out of the way.

“These creatures are beyond saving,” Sioux Falls tells the griffon.

Melissa grudgingly takes out her pistols and fires on the brahmin as well.

Puzzler and the Steel Rangers with Convoy among them bust open the door to see the massacre. Convoy looks down at the worm covered brahmin, Looks at the bullet wounds, and then looks up at Melissa. She gives the robot a heart broken look back.

“I’m sorry,” Was all that the griffon could say.

Convoy could feel his anger building.

“These worms, they are growing legs with toes,” A Steel Ranger points out.

“What did you say?” Sioux Falls raises an eyebrow.

“Is something the matter?” Melissa asks.

“I know what this is,” Sioux Falls shouts, “These creatures are going through external fetal evolution.”

“Say what now?” Melissa gives a confused look.

“Most creatures when in a fetal state will go through stages of past evolution,” Sioux Falls explains, “Unborn chicks will develop features of a raptor before features of a chicken. Everything started out as single cells, then worms, then fish, then amphibians. There are creatures in nature that drastically change or develop after born. Ponies, horses, were once carnivores.”

“That would explain the feeding on the corpses,” Melissa remarks.

“But why haven’t we seen these meat eating incarnations?” Puzzler points out.

“Maybe they were part of the pipbucks we already killed?” Melissa suggested.

Sioux Falls shook her head. “They should have toes if they are meat eaters if I got the evolution history right.”

Suddenly worms popped up out of the ground. This took the Steel Rangers by surprise causing them to evacuate the barn. Convoy was glowing red hot. His body attracting the creatures.

“Convoy what are you doing!” Melissa shouts.

“Get out!” Convoy yells. Worms and half worms charge at the robot like moths to the flame each one cooking against his body.

Soon the robot pony destroyed most of the creatures. Enough to allow Max to set foot on the ground without getting jumped.

The Steel Rangers finished sweeping the farm taking out a few pipbucks. They never came across the meat eaters.

“Damn it,” Sioux Falls kicks the wall of a well in anger frustrated at the lack of meat eaters. “They have to be somewhere.”

“Convoy?” Melissa tries to talk to the robot pony who was moping near one of the vehicles.

He didn’t respond.

“I’m missing something,” Sioux Falls mumbles. Then she hears a sound that makes her ears twitch.

Melissa sighs and walks up to Sioux Falls. “Whats the matter Sioux?”

“Did you hear that?” The pegasus asks.

“No,” Melissa replied.

Sioux Falls looks at the setting sun then quickly looks at the well.

“Sioux?” Melissa asks concerned.

“Ever heard of aquatic equine theory?” Sioux Falls asks as she rushed for the well.

“The what?” Melissa gives a confused look.

“Some say, some features that ponies have could have had only appeared if we had ancestors that evolved to live in the water.” Sioux Falls looks down the well. “Like our short hair making us more aerodynamic for swimming and the ability to sweat for expelling excess salt.”

Glowing eyes flash back at the purple pony.

“Someone get a grenade!” Sioux Falls shouts.

The sun had set enough for the monsters to climb out of the well. Melissa shot one that lunged for Sioux Falls. Then she quickly pushed the pegasus to the ground. As the creatures started climbing out of the well, bullets flew over the heads of the ponies. Someone tossed a missile down the well causing an explosion. The well collapsed onto its self.

The pegasus and the griffon stand up.

“That shouldn’t be the last we see of them.” Sioux Falls tells the Rangers. “Aquifers could run for miles.”

“I see,” Puzzler replied, “And these things all have this Discord matter?”

“Yes,” Sioux Falls gives a confused look.

“Take it out!” Puzzler orders.

Steel Rangers pull out a device that has antennas sticking out of it.

“What is that?” Melissa demands.

“Bypass Pulse Bomb,” Puzzler answers, “A quarantine device that’s emits a strong magic pulse.”

“Programmed to only destroy stuff that has Discord matter, meaning everything that emits a Discord effect energy signature,” Melissa points out. 

“Wait! I’m made of Discord matter!” Sioux Falls shouts.

“Then you better run,” Puzzler deadpan.

Sioux Falls takes up to the sky. Melissa calls Convoy back into her body and swiftly grabs Max.

“What are you doing?” Max snaps as the griffon takes him up into the air.

“I’m pretty sure that bomb will make your pipbuck explode,” Melissa answers, “I don’t think you’d survive that.”

In the distance they could hear a loud boom. A purple flash could be seen out of the corners of their eyes. Max feels his pipbuck heat up.

“Did I tell you I’m glad I’m not connected to a pony,” Convoy remarks

Sioux Falls suddenly drops from the sky and crashes to the ground.
___
“Ever get the feeling we will never change? Yes we had pulled ourselves out of the ashes, but you ever wonder if it’s just to blow ourselves to the wind again? (sobbing and crying) (sigh) I’m sorry, I’ll make sure to take my happy pills tomorrow.”
> IDW/Viewing Orb Map/Running on Fallout Equestria 2.0
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The honey colored griffon stares that the statue of an alicorn. The weather was not kind to her making the face blurred. The half bird lion pulls the vines away from the statue’s mount.

“Melissa what are you doing?” A bulky female griffon with black marking speaks in a harsh tone that took the honey griffon by surprise.

“Vespa don’t sneak up on me like that,” Melissa holds her chest.

“I’m just wondering why are you staring at one of the old alicorn rulers of Equestria?” Vespa asks.

“I’m just in awe,” Melissa shrugs, “A being can be neigh immortal and yet their effigy of them made from stone can’t last two hundred years.”

Vespa laughs, “That and raiders probably been pissing on it for years.”

The griffon’s laughter had made a few of the hellhounds that were walking past stop and look.

Vespa gets a hold of herself. “We better get back to work. The hellhounds are only letting us take a few days to take from Ponyville what we want to keep.”

The two griffons walk into what remains of the Ponyville library. A large building, in the beginning it was just a very large tree. But it had a number of expansions over its years of use.

There was a few hellhounds putting old books stained with goddess knows what into boxes. They were being instructed by a cream colored griffon. She was Deseret, the third of the Featherborn sisters.

“Catbirds are late,” A hellhound snaps.

“Sorry, my friend is having feminine issues today,” Vespa remarks.

Melissa blushes,

The hellhound sniffs the air. “She don’t smell in heat?”

“Hey!” Melissa snaps puffing her feathers.

“I mean emotional,” Vespa gets in close, “She broke up with her boyfriend and been wanting to engage in angry sex with a dog.”

The hellhound looks at Melissa as if to contemplate the idea.

“Veppie what did you say to him?” Melissa sticks her tale between her legs and lowers her head.

“She’s just messing with you dear,” Deseret tells the dog.

“Stupid cats,” The hellhound walks away to fill up another basket.

“Happy fellow,” Vespa smirks as she takes a basket in her claws.

“You're mean to me you know that?” Melissa grabs a basket as well.

“You make it easy pipsqueak,” Vespa remarks at they flew off.

The two griffons make their landing at an encampment of ponies outside of Ponyville.

They brought the baskets inside to a ginger orange pony with an even more ginger orange mane. Her hair as puffy in a fro that threatened to consume her unicorn horn in a single bite. Had a pipbuck and oozed stable pony. The cutie mark was the same as her name Ginger Roots.

“Still emptying the library,” Ginger Roots remarks with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, We have books stained yellow with piss, stained red with blood and bluish, greenish, purple with Mother knows what.” Vaspa teased

“Mine has a memory orb,” Melissa adds.

“Really? Give me! Let me see!” Ginger Roots takes the orb out of the box. It was cover in smudges of filth. “Seems bigger then your average memory orb.”

“Maybe it’s a prototype?” Melissa points out.

“Yeah, I could see Twilight being one of the first to use such a thing,” Ginger Roots nods her head, “And the library was turned into the Twilight Sparkle Museum.”

“Get the darn thing working already,” Vespa snaps.

“Okay? What happens if I…” Ginger touches the orb with her horn witch sparks brown magic. The unicorn screams from surprise and drops the orb on the table.

“Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” An image of a lavender unicorn and an indigo mane with a magenta streak appears in the orb.

“My goddess, Its Twilight Sparkle,” Ginger Roots points out.

“Yes, that’s what the pony said,” Vespa rolls her eyes.

“Neat that there’s a convenient pause for us to bicker with each other,” Melissa smirks.

“Must be spelled to not speak when the sound volume is up too high,” Ginger Roots notes.

“If you are listening to this thing then I fear the worst has happened to my people,” Twilight continued, “If you were unlucky enough to not get into a Stable then fear not. Within the wildlands of Equestria there is a peaceful land that the Zebra shouldn’t know about. Whatever ponies can should voyage there and found a new society. This orb contains the map to this land. Please write it down and leave this orb behind for others to find their way.”

Ginger Roots scanned the map with her pipbuck.

“What was that bunk about?” Vespa snorted.

“Vespa,” Melissa reprimanded.

“This is a wonderful break through,” Ginger Roots chirped.

“How so?” Melissa asks.

“Ever since I left Stable 2 I’ve been wanting to research Ponyville to get an idea of the origins of my people,” Ginger Roots answers then sighs, “Unfortunately the hellhounds moved in and barred ponies from setting foot in Ponyville. They barely let you griffons in.”

“This all has to do with what?” Vespa snaps.

“You know of a place call The Republic that used to be around here?” Ginger Roots asks, “They were founded by survivors of Ponyville. But they have stories of a lost herd that split from them. This map could lead us to the lost herd. If anything I now have leverage over the hellhounds.”

“How so?” Melissa raises an eyebrow.

“This map shows the lost Diamond Dog mines,” Ginger Roots smirks, “They have to care about their history as much as me? I give them the map, They give me access to Ponyville.”

“Dang, I guess one of us will have to talk to the dog chief,” Vespa sighs.

“Hey, Deseret is not here to object,” Melissa smirks, “Besides she’s the better talker anyway.”

The two griffons came back to Ponyville. After landing back at the library and engaging in their usual back and forth with the hellhounds there.

“Oh, dear sister,” Melissa sang in a playful voice.

“I don’t like that tone,” Deseret said in a deadpan without looking away from the books she was removing from the shelf.

“Yeah, our boss wants to black mail hellhounds with a map to a lost mine of theirs,” Melissa explains, “She wants access to the town.”

“And you want me to tell the pack leader,” Deseret rolls her eyes.

“You were kind of the last to call ‘not it’,” Melissa smirks.

“Is see” The cream colored griffon played with her sister.

The griffons walked back outside. Vespa and Melissa waited as Deseret requested parlay with the hellhound pack leader.

As she waited, Melissa cleaned the rest of the vines off the alicorn statue.

“Um, so that’s who this is?” Melissa remarks looking at the plaque she uncovered.

“Good news people,” Deseret smiles as she walks out of the building, “The chief agree to let Ginger Roots into town to negotiate her terms. Bad news once she’s done he wants us to lead a team to investigate the mine.”

“Great more work,” Vespa complained, “This Arcane thing is becoming a drag.”

“You can always retire,” Deseret purred.

“At least Gawd is giving her people work, but she cares too much for these ponies,” Vespa remarks.

The griffons flew off.

Back at the alicorn statue, The words on the plaque said. “Your Faithful Leader, -Twilight Sparkle”
___
“Hello my little ponies, I’ve been complicating telling you something. Today I figured it’s time. We live in new and adventurous times. So I want to tell you a truth I believe you all are ready to know. I’m sure you ponies know of my wonderful and sexy assistant Homage?” 
> Fo:E:SP/ Casta Torus /Red Eye’s Behind the Mask
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The twelve foot blade [Keep in mind that ponies are about average four feet.] mashes over Puzzler’s head popping his red juices out of his armor. The Steel Rangers under his command stood in shock as the giant centaur wearing a rusty bull’s mask pulls his blade away.

“What the heck is it?”

“I don’t know? Looks like a centaur but I never heard of one so big?”

“What I care about the most is where did it come from? The bomb went off and then boom here he was.”

“We should be firing!”

The Steel Rangers fire their weapons. The centaur monster holds its blade as a shield and turned its flank leaving the creature’s ginormous battle saddle to take the brunt of the hits. Then with a swift swing of his blade, the beast hit the three Rangers.

The first was sliced in half. [The long way] The second stuck to the blade allowing him to crash into the third, who’s spine snaps with in his armor.

Troja watched from her hiding spot as the centaur marched to the larger township where the Steel Rangers were based. The glowing rift in space that the creature had walked out of closes.

It took an hour for Melissa to show up at the farm again. The griffon finds Troja by the pings she was sending off.

Melissa looks at the massacred Steel Rangers. “What happened here?”

“The bomb did indeed have an effect on all the Discord matter,” Troja kicks at an oddly decayed pipbuck on the ground, “It ripped it from these things very DNA. But attacking the Discord matter somehow allowed the creature to break through into this world.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Melissa points out.

“It kind of does,” Troja answers, “What if the stuff we call Discord matter is something leaked from another world. Attacking directly with bypass magic could have dislodged it from this world and sending it back to where it came.”

“I see,” The griffon shakes her head.

“Where is Max and Sioux Falls?” Troja asks.

“Unlike these creatures, Sioux Falls is made almost completely out of Discord matter,” Convoy points out from within Melissa, “So the impact of the bomb had on her was equal. Nothing that a healing potion can’t fix. Max’s pipbuck heated up and burned his arm. We left him and Sioux Falls at an abandon house to recover.”

“What was your read of this creature?” Melissa asks Troja.

“Its helmet was blocking my abilities,” Troja shook her head.

Melissa walks to the Steel Ranger’s armor.

“You’re going to need something bigger then that,” Troja warns.

The griffon walks up to the Steel Ranger’s transport and breathes the Cybertronian’s life into it. The machine turns red and transforms into a robot pony.

“What do you want to do about the Bypass Pulse Bomb?” Troja points at the antennaed device, “It appears to be able to fire more than one shot. We can’t change settings without proper data to upload.”

“We leave it for now,” Melissa tells her as she saddles Convoy. She turns back to Troja. “Coming along?”

Troja shakes her head. “I’m not going to be a help against that monster.”

>

The battle saddle charges with a whine before firing. Wood splinters and body parts flies through the air.

A Steel Ranger fires upon the rusty bull. The bullets spark off the centaur’s helmet.

“Fuck it,” A Ranger spat, “That thing’s metal is spelled to attract bullets.

The centaur was about to swing it’s blade down when a red and blue robot slams into it. The beast spins around with its blade.

Convoy blocks with a serrated blade of his own. Gears start up in the robot's weapon causing the spines to spin. The centaur’s weapon was flung aside.

The chain saw blade sparks against the centaur creature’s battle saddle. The thing replied by head butting Convoy. The robot was put off balance and stumbles back. Having the room the masked centaur fires onto Convoy with its battle saddle.

In the battle Melissa dismounts from Convoy’s back. She circles around the centaur beast waiting to find a good shot. She targets the eye holes of the mask. But as she aimed, a red light peering out of one of the holes stunned her brain a moment.

A missile from one of the Steel Rangers strikes the giant beast sending it crashing into a nearby building. Convoy moves in for a hoof stomp but only to get his back legs kicked out from under him. The centaur giant grabs Convoy by the neck then swings him through a wall.

In the spare moment the centaur creature reaches for the Steel Ranger who had shot him. The lucky buck got away.

Melissa opens fire from the sky. She was aiming for the spine at the base of the neck but her bullets kept hitting the creature’s mask. The centaur swats her out of the air with the flat side of its blade. Melissa hears her bones crack as she crashed to the ground.

Convoy pops a gun torrent out his side showering the rusty bull with bullets. These bullets actually hit the centaur’s flank, But the horse hide was too tough. The centaur bucks the robot smashing his side.

The creature walks back out into the street. Suddenly another round of bullets hits the beast in the flank. This time they pierced it’s flesh causing the thing to yell out in pain.

“It looks like I’m going to have to take off the kid shoes if I’m going to stop you,” Convoy shouts.

The Cybertronian’s damaged body buckles and pops as he charges the larger centaur creature. At the last moment he rears up and head buts the monster’s mask as hard as he could. There was a loud ring as Convoy’s face casing falls apart and the centaur's mask split into two.

Melissa wincing and limping from her injuries stared up in shock at the face. Even though he had a human face. The red robotic eye on one side gave him away. The centaur creature was Red Eye. The former leader of the Unity cult. This abomination had his mouth seal shut with metal wire.

Well Convoy was still stunned, The centaur stables himself with his blade and fire’s his battle saddle. The Cybertronian was ripped to shreds. His soul returned to Melissa racking her body with more pain as she passed out.

Melissa awoke in a triage. Her bones had been reset and she could feel the after effects of a healing potion. Max was in the room watching from the corner. This would give her the estimate that she was out for at least over an hour.

“How’s the battle going?” The griffon moans.

“Not well,” Max sighs, “The beast is super strong and heals as if it’s filled with healing potions.”

“Not shocked,” Convoy answers, “Compared to monsters of the wasteland most wouldn’t be able to stand up against me at full power.”

“Yes, in the past it took a super charged alicorn to take you down,” Max smirked. 

“We designated the thing Casta Torus meaning ‘Rusty Bull’,” Sioux Falls states as she walks in with Troja.

“Is that thing Red Eye?” The griffon asks Troja.

“With the helmet gone I can read his thoughts,” Troja nods, “He thinks he is Red Eye, He thinks he’s dead and some force is driving him to seek out Littlepip and kill her. I believed this force is what’s protecting him.”

“We think the BPB can send him back to where he came from,” Max adds, “Unfortunately any Ranger with the ability to reprogram the thing are now dead.”

“There is also the issue of the wave being too wide,” Sioux Falls points out, “We need to modify it to be more focused.”

“I can certainly do that with anything I fuse with,” Convoy adds in.

“There is an issue with that,” Melissa intersects, “Convoy transformered a Steel Ranger transport vehicle and he could barely stand to toe with that thing. The BPB device is smaller and if Convoy is destroyed that device is destroyed.”

“Back when, I used to have a trailer I would take into battle with me,” Convoy explains, “I’d be able to fuse with it to increase my size and power.”

“You’re saying I might be able to fuse you with more than one machine?” Melissa asks.

“It’s possible,” Convoy answers.

(I’m not sure I can,) Melissa sighs.

(I have faith in you,) Convoy replied.

“Okay, Make preparations,” Melissa ordered.

Sioux Falls, Troja, and Max turn to leave the room.

“Max a word with you,” Melissa stops the buck.

The others leave the room letting Melissa and Max be alone.

“How do you feel about the events that has happen?” Melissa asks.

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at?” Max replied.

“The Steel Rangers were once your people,” Melissa points out, “You were with me well I was knocked out. I’m pretty sure you’re avoiding something.”

“I’m not too keen on them knowing I used to be a Steel Ranger,” Max answers, “I’d rather not have them catch onto my past because of my history.”

“Very well,” Melissa nods her head, “You are dismissed.”

After gearing up, Melissa walks out side. The transport vehicle was waiting for her with the BPB inside.

Melissa breathes out the blue energy. She starts wrapping it around her fingers making two balls around each claw. One claw touched the Bypass Bomb. The other claw touched the vehicle. There was a flash.

Before them stood a robotic centaur. But Melissa had disappeared.

“Where did Melissa go?” Sioux Falls shouts as she looks around.

“She’s in the robot,” Troja answers sensing the air with her horn.

“Yes! I’m in here!” Melissa shouts.

“H-how did that happen?” Max notes.

“When I had my own body, I used my matrix as an anchor when fusing,” Convoy explains, “Since my matrix is in the lady she fused along with the two machines. Unfortunately I think this means when this body is destroyed we are too.”

“Great,” Melissa metaphorically rolls her eyes.

“Well nothing we can do about this now,” Sioux Falls tells the two. “Into battle!”

>

Steel Rangers fire upon the Casta Torus slowing its progress down. The creature retaliated by firing on them with its battle saddle then swipes the leftovers with its blade.

Blam!

A humongous shot gun blast hits the Casta Torus in the shoulder. It turns to see a centaur Convoy holding a Cybertronian shotgun.

“Ugly, Dance with someone your own size,” Melissa says in Convoy’s voice.

The Casta Torus laughs at the challenge and fires his battle saddle. Convoy pulls a shield from his back that blocked the gun fire.

“We need to take out those torrents,” Melissa notes.

“Hang on then,” Convoy replied.

The robot charges bashing into Casta Torus. With his hands Convoy grabs the beast’s torrents. They resisted at first but he managed to snap the torrents off.

Casta Torus swings his blade. With a swack of his shield, Convoy caused the creature to drop the weapon.

Now with the opportunity, Convoy drops his shield and pulls two speared spikes from his back. He spins around behind the Casta Torus and stabs him in the shoulders of the horse part.

“Activating bypass magic field,” Convoy announces.

Casta Torus screams as it is ripped from the world taking the spears with it. What was left was a glowing rift that quickly sealed.

“You did it!” Sioux Falls cheers giving Convoy a hug, “I can’t wait to get back to Tenpony and do some experiments with Discord matter to find out just what the heck happened here!”

“You’re kidding me right?” Convoy raised an eye.

“Ponies,” Melissa replied.

With a sigh of relief and a flash of light, the machines, Convoy and Melissa split. Melissa takes a few steps then swerves and passes out.
___
“Sometimes I wonder as new science opens to us again, do we stare down at the gates of hell? DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> IDW/Everfree Zoo/Night of the Living Mr.McBitey-Pants
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The old zoo smelled as such the same as the rest of the abandon areas of the former wasteland. But zoos were always eerier. Maybe it was the animal cages. The change of scenery, or the fact that they were meant to be a happy place.

Griffons in particular don’t like zoos. Ponies kept creatures in zoos. Some were creatures ponies could talk to. Griffons under different circumstances, if they were less intelligent or didn’t have the numbers for their own nation, could have been locked in zoos.

Melissa and Deseret were escorting Ginger Roots around the old zoo between the outskirts of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville.

“Apparently this was a place Fluttershy was running when she was living in Ponyville,” Deseret notes.

“It seems at some point Red Racer had started funding the place,” Melissa points out wiping off the Red Racer logo on an old trolley.

“I didn't think Fluttershy had the ability to pay for all of this concrete and construction,” Ginger Roots notes kicking the side of a cement wall.

"I also don't think this is her style," Deseret adds.

Melissa examines the trolley. “It appeared to have worked by using magnetic rails.”

“Goodie, Think we could get them working?” Ginger Roots cheered.

“What would be the point?” Deseret points out, “This area is extra dangerous because wild Timber Wolverines would roam the area.”

“But since Red Eye’s attempt to cleansed the area most had moved on,” Melissa points out.

Ginger Roots examines the writings in front of one of the cages, “Mr.McBitey-Pants,” She frowns, “I wish I could see these animals alive.”

“I think the energy source is this way,” Melissa calls out to her companions. They fallow her down the walk way.

Inside of the cage lay the dried remains of a lion. Inside of rib cage of that lion was a plant of Killing Joke.

“It’s a shame that Vespa couldn’t be here with us,” Ginger Roots remarks as she walks, “I hope she gets to feeling better soon.”

“I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Deseret remarks.

Melissa starts snickering.

>
Last Night,
>

The griffon sisters sit around an inn table of a hellhound bar. They talk as they drink down foamy mugs of alcohol.

“Ah, we are finally able to get some R’n’R inside the town,” Melissa sighs as she drinks from her mug.

“Thanks to ‘my’ and Ginger Roots negotiations we are able to stay in this town without restrictions,” Deseret boasts.

“Don’t get a big head now,” Vespa smirks, “I’m glad we are able to experience these dog’s night life.”

“Keep in mind sister, we are going to explore the Everfree Zoo ruins tomorrow,” Deseret warns.

“You might as well be talking to a wall sis,” Melissa laughs, She glance to the bar behind her, “Too bad Ginger Roots isn’t having a good time.”

“You don’t have any ginger ale?” Ginger Roots replied to the bartender hellhound.

“If it’s not alcohol why would we have it?” The bar tender snaps.

“You mix it with drinks,” Ginger Roots hoofs at her hair.

“Why would you want to do that?” The bar tender gives the mare a funny look.

“Okay,” Ginger Roots sighs, “What’s the green stuff?”

“It’s green,” The hellhound host deadpans.

“Agh!”

Melissa laughs, “Who wants to bet he spits into her drink?” The griffon turns back to her sisters. She looks over at Vespa who already had three times as much to drink then her. “Vespa, you remember the other day you tried to get that hellhound to hit on me?”

“Yes?” Vespa raises an eye.

“Let’s make a bet,” Melissa smirks, “Looser has to fuck a hellhound.”

“Melissa!” Deseret reprimands. She moves in closer to her sister and whispers. “Griffons are 'way' too shallow for a hellhound.”

“Not if she takes it up the butt,” Melissa replied with a whisper as well, “Nothing a healing potion wouldn’t be able to fix.”

“It’s not advisable to take potions well drunk or with a hangover it would only serve to dehydrate the body more and put the body in shock,” Deseret points out.

“Ack! What the heck is this thing!” Ginger Roots shouts.

>
Now
>

Melissa installs the heavy crystal with a loud grunt.

“Are you ready up there?” Melissa speaks into a communication device.

“You’re a go, flip the switch,” Deseret replied.

Her and Ginger Roots were standing in the zoo’s monitoring and control tower that over sees the park.

Melissa push the breaker switch up. The whole complex buzzes with electricity. The computer and screens turn on up in the tower.”

“AI talisman starting up, Booting holographic interface,” A voice says over the control tower speakers. “Warning, system glitch has caused all cages to unlock.”

Lines shoot across the room. They project a little orange filly with a fuchsia mane.

“Hey it’s Scootaloo,” Ginger Roots cheers.

“Yeah, I get that reaction a lot,” The hologram replied, “The name is Red Monarch. I’m an AI based off of Scootaloo’s younger self. I’m here to help interacting with employees and guests. The system shows I have been off for over two hundred years?”

“Yeah, the world ended, all of the animals are dead,” Deseret tells the hologram pony.

“Sorry dear,” Ginger Roots adds.

“She seems to be a Stable-Tec prototype,” Deseret says to Ginger Roots

“The floor plan of this place does resemble a Stable now that I think of it,” The unicorn notes, “Not shocked they would experiment with designs in this way.”

“System shows one cage has a living animal designated Mr.McBitey-Pants.” Red Monarch replied, “No wait he’s roaming around. Wait now there are five living animals, now seven, twelve, eighteen…”

“Fuck,” Deseret speaks into the communicator, “Melissa get up here now something strange is going on out there!”

“Yes mother,” Melissa talked back.

“This isn’t funny,” Deseret snaps.

Melissa packs her repair tools and walks up the stairs. She steps out onto the main floor of the tower that had taxidermy displays of dead animals and creatures.

Out of the corner of her eye Melissa could see a squirrel scurry across the floor. Her stomach rumbles causing the griffon's predatory instincts to take over and stock the thing under some bone display.

The squirrel lashes out at the griffon. The creature was gray and dusty. Both its fur and skin was dry.

Melissa screams as the undead creature jumps on her head and bites at her beak. Suddenly an undead possum jumps at the griffon as well. She pulls out her bee pistols and fire at the creatures.

A zombie lion burst through the front doors. The taxidermy animals around the lion come to life.

Melissa’s foot crushed a rabbit. Then a jackolope pierces her side. As she deals with the creature, a hippo charges at her. The griffon takes to the air to avoid the creatures and perch herself on some rafters.

“Deseret! Ginger Roots! Zombies! All the animals have turned into zombies!” Melissa shouts into the communicator.

“Deseret is heading down that way,” Ginger Roots replied.

Zombie birds dive bomb at Melissa causing the griffon to move.

Blam!

Deseret had shot McBitey-Pants with a shotgun. It didn’t kill the creature but. He seemed to be effected because he backed away.

“Sis!” Melissa shouts as she lands behind the cream colored griffon.

“Head up stairs! I’ll cover you!” Deseret orders.

Melissa reached the control room. A few moments later Deseret came in and barred the door behind her.

A zombie bat flies off of Melissa’s flank. She pistol whips the thing out of the air. The bat hits the ground and the griffon stomps down until it stops moving.

“My sensors show that the animals are undead,” Red Monarch deadpans.

“Look a wittle Scoolaloo,” Melissa points out.

“I get that a lot, Red Monarch, system assistance AI,” The hologram introduced itself.

“What could have caused this to happen?” Ginger Roots asks.

“I saw a Killing Joke on that lion,” Deseret answers, “It must have heard you and brought these things to life.”

“I’m sorry, I have anti Killing Joke magic that Velvet Remedy developed for harvesting the plant. But I didn’t expect to see some this far out, so I didn’t cast it.” Ginger Roots tells the griffons.

“How does this magic work?” Melissa asks.

“Well there are two kinds,” Ginger Roots answers, “One spell you cast on yourself or the Killing Joke to stop it from casting curses on you. The other reverses Killing Joke curses.”

“I think we need the reverse magic,” Deseret adds.

“I don’t have enough in me to stop all of them,” Ginger Roots apologize.

“Too bad we don’t have a talisman that counters Killing Joke,” Melissa rolls her eyes.

“What did you say?” Ginger Roots perks up.

“Counter Killing Joke talisman?” Melissa answers unsurely.

“Water talisman, Monarch?” Ginger Roots speak up, “This place has a water talisman in it?”

“You’re asking for a working one?” Red Monarch replied, “It’s been deactivated well the power was out, so it should be working.”

“Miss Roots you have a plan?” Deseret asks.

“Water can hold magic, If I zap the water talisman with my magic I could fill the zoo’s water system with the Killing Joke reverse spell.”

“Error, Anifire system is off line,” Red Monarch replied.

“Doesn’t matter,” Deseret smirks, “We spell the water and we work things out from there.”

“Where is the water supply?” Melissa asks.

“The northeast corner of the park,” Red Monarch answers.

“We can’t carrying Ginger that far especially if we have to fight off flying zombies,” Melissa frowns.

“You can take the Jungle Cruise Trolley,” Red Monarch suggested.

“Thanks,” Melissa remarks to the hologram.

“I’m programmed to help solve any issues the park may face even the unexpected ones,” Red Monarch deadpanned back.

“Yeah,” Melissa replied in an unsure tone, “The trolley is just down the walkway. We can glide to it.”

“Okay,” Deseret nods her head.

Melissa grabs Ginger Roots as the griffons jumped out of a tower window.

Blam!

Deseret shoots the head off a zombie chicken which started to run around. She lands on the trolley and climbs in.

Melissa being weighed down lands in the middle of the street in front of the trolley. A dog and a duck spots them and ran for the two.

Blam!

Blam!

Deseret snipes the two zombies. The gunshots attracted more zombies as Ginger Roots and Melissa climb up on the trolley.

“Welcome one and all to the Everfree Jungle Cruise,” Scootaloo’s voice speaks over the speakers, “I’m Scootaloo you may recognize me as the owner of Red Racer and I'll be hosting your ride today.”

As the recording played the party of three passed out guns and ammo.

“First of all keep all hooves and claws inside the vehicle at all times. No flash photography, turn off all communication devices. Please don’t interfere with the driver computer.”

The trolley starts moving. A bear wearing a tutu and a hat holding a chain saw jumps out at them. They open fire on the creature.

“Up ahead is the tunnel of reptiles.”

As the trolley went into the tunnel its lights kicked on.

Blam!

Blam!

Blam!

The party fights off a horde of snakes and lizards. Plus one alligator that the trolley split into two by running it over.

“We are entering the water fowl area to your left ducks and geese and to your right the majestic flamingos.”

Everyone reloads before opening fire on the charging birds.

“Next is the predator cha-“

The trolley sparks then stops.

“Damn it not now!” Melissa shouts.

Behind them they could see a hundred zombie animals coming their way.

“Everybody run!” Deseret shouts as she rifles through her saddle bag.

Ginger Roots runs off but Melissa stops.

“I can-“The griffon starts to say.

Deseret pulls out some semtex.

“Very well,” Melissa turns and runs.

Blam!

Ginger Roots shot a tiger. The thing twitched on the ground. It starts to stand when Melissa finished it off.

They heard an explosion behind them fallowed by a wave of dust. Deseret runs out of the smoke passing Ginger Roots and Melissa.

“Still got your explosive?” Deseret asks Melissa as they ran.

“Yes,” Melissa answers.

“You guys carry explosives with you?” Ginger Roots remarks.

“Only a little,” Melissa tells her, “You don’t know when it will come in handy out here.”

The water processing station comes into sight. Birds start dive bombing them. Deseret and Ginger Roots fend off the birds with gunfire as Melissa breaks the lock.

They enter into the building and shut the door behind them. Unable to lock the door Melissa and Deseret had to push the door shut as zombies slam against it. Ginger Roots found the water talisman and cast her spell on it.

“I’m done,” Ginger Roots tells the griffons.

“Is that boiler working?” Deseret asks.

“It seems so,” Ginger Roots squints at a little light on the boiler.

“Melissa turn that valve,” Deseret ordered.

Melissa reached over and puts her claw on the valve. Her skin sizzles from the heat.

“Ahhh! Is that supposed to be hot?” Melissa asks.

“Oh, yeah this is going to hurt,” Deseret adds.

Melissa sighs, She grabs the valve with both claws and turns. With a pop a stream of boiling hot steam hits the griffon in the chest. The sound of the steam almost covered the sound of Melissa's agonizing screams.

Deseret opens the door letting the zombie animals in. She gets pinned down behind the door knocking the wind out of her.

The creatures went for Ginger Roots running through the steam. The mare turns on SATS firing on the creatures. Seconds after hitting the steam the zombies stop moving.

Using her magic, Ginger Roots shoots the steam out of the door hitting more animals. Soon they stopped moving, flopping onto the wet ground.

The unicorn turns the valve off with her magic. The first thing she noticed was Melissa screaming on the ground. Her body was badly burned with a good chunk of her feathers blown away.

Ginger Roots had accidently shot Deseret in the commotion. She was still trapped behind the door with blood oozing out her side.

“My pack, I have healing potions!” Deseret groaned out.

The unicorn found two bottles, One was broken causing Ginger Roots to give Deseret a questioning look.

“Give it to my sister,” Deseret orders.

Ginger Roots holds the screaming Melissa down and gives her the potion. As the griffon recovered, the unicorn limps outside.

“Ginger Roots are you there?” Red Monarch speaks through the pipbuck.

“I read you,” Ginger Roots replied.

“Readings show you got ninety percent of the zombies. It seems the commotion you made caused most to fallow you.” Monarch told her.

“Good, we got a lucky br-“ Mr.McBitey-Pants jumps onto Ginger Roots. She could smell the zombie breath on him.

Melissa comes up from behind the lion and uses her cloud manipulation ability to smother the zombie's face. It rolls over and stops moving.

“Thanks for saving me,” Ginger Roots says as the griffon helps her up.

Melissa’s skin was flaking off and a good number of her feathers were still gone.

Mr.McBitey-Pants stands back up.

“Shouldn’t that thing be cured by the water?” Melissa asks Ginger Roots as she takes a fighting stance.

“This one has the Killing Joke on it,” Ginger Roots points out.

The zombie lion lunges at Melissa. She dodges the creature. The griffon gets a smirk on her face and pulls out a trigger. The lion looks down at the semtex in its boney chest. Melissa presses the button. The lion explodes.

The blue flower lands on the wet ground. A griffon foot stomps down and grinds the thing into the pavement.

Deseret beams at her sister and unicorn or the best she could with a bullet wound.

“Here,” Melissa gets under her sister’s shoulder. Ginger Roots takes the other side.
___
“Today I saw two foals playing a children’s game. It warmed my heart, As time passes more and more in this new world I could see the innocence get back into our young colts and fillies. Real quick, I’d like to thank you all for your support before I go. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> Fo:E:SP/Shadow Foals/The Cries of the Motherless Ones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   An aqua colored earth pony with an oricalcum mane runs down the decayed streets of Manehattan. Her cutie mark was that of a rainbow with gold silver and bronze colors.

It was night but the moonlight illuminated everything. Everything but the darkness that chased after the mare.

The mare makes a wrong turn and finds herself at a dead end.
“Milk,”

“Mommy,”

The voices makes the pony cringe as she slowly turns her head. With in the darkness she could see the eyes. They glowed not one single color of what you expect from a horde of monsters. The eyes were every color and they glimmered with sadness.

“Mommy!”

The mare screams as the shadows rush her. Teeth of a shadow foals bites into her hindquarters. The mare looses her footing causing her to fall exposing her underbelly.

“Milk!”

“Milk!”

“Milk!”

The shadows cheer before digging into her utters. The mare screams in pain and horror as her breasts were ripped from her body leaving her guts to spill out onto the street in a steamy mess.

Victory Finish was finished.

>

Max rubs his head.

“Migraine again?” Troja asks.

“They come and go,” Max answers.

Troja gives a concerned look. “Haven’t been experiencing mood swings or anything?”

“Why do you ask?” Max replied.

“Something I sensed for a moment,” Troja shrugs, “Most likely nothing.

Sioux Falls was examining the body of the aqua mare. Two ponies stood next to her. They were a pair of locals. An off navy blue buck with an off black mane. The other a bright violet pony with a silver and black mane.

“Well there are additional bite wounds on the hindleg. The eating of breast shows a sexual component.”

“You think its raiders?” The blue pony asks by the name of Greens, “I thought they were gone from this area?”

“Raiders would have fucked her.” Max points out.

Sioux Falls flips her ears back and gives Max a look. “Could I have a word with you a moment.”

The two ponies step aside and spoke in low tones.

“I’m not just saying this because I was raised in the clouds and have different sensibilities,” Sioux Falls spoke, “I’m saying this because we are investigating a death and comes with a certain bit of respect. So when referring to the said body used more appropriate terms.”

Max sighs, “I understand and I’m sorry. I’m new at this. I’ll try to be more respectful.”

The two ponies walk back over to the body.

“As I was saying, if it was raiders she should have been raped,” Max restates. He lifts up one of the dead mare’s legs, “See her pu-vagina and anus is appears to be unpenetrated. She’s untied and obviously fought back, so more than one raider would have been needed to do this. None of them left any ejaculate behind?”

“The assailant could have been female,” Troja adds.

“Female would have still have left sexual juices behind,” Sioux Falls explains, “Heck I don’t even see any saliva.”

“This might not be sexual in nature,” Max adds, “Cult killings aren't that uncommon. Breasts are the symbol for life. Plus utter meat does-would make good eating.”

“Off the mare?” Sioux Falls points out unsatisfied with the bucks answer, “I think they would use a knife.”

“True,” Max agreed.

“It was the Shadow Foals,” The purple mare named Royal Crest blurts out.

“Royal,” Greens snaps.

“Look, we are just staying in your little village to give our captain time to recover,” Sioux Falls tells the ponies. “If you are going to be bullshitting with us we can just stop here and now.”

Royal Crest gives Greens a begging look.

Greens sighs and rolls his eyes, “You can tell them everything.”

Royal Crest nods her head back at her partner.

“There had always been stories, ghost stories,” Royal Crest told them.

“Stories like this is what we deal in,” Troja remarks.

“Yes, continue we won’t judge,” Sioux Falls egged on.

“They say when a mare walks around the ruined streets of Manehattan alone at night, sprits of the dead foals who died in the Balefire Bomb takes her.” The purple one told them.

“This has been happening more and more,” Greens adds, “All bodies found in this manner.”

“Makes sense if the story is true,” Troja notes, “In the old days a mare would have to be crazy to walk alone at night.”

"Who knows all the effects the bombs have had," Sioux Falls adds, "Look at ghouls, the idea of them turning ponies into something less substantial isn't far off."

“You believe us?” Royal Crest asks unsurely.

“When you eliminate the probable,” Sioux Falls adds.

“Can we take the body back to the village?” Greens asks.

“Yes, I’ll be needing to do an autopsy there,” Sioux Falls tells them.

The ponies got a hold of a sleeping bag to move the body in. They carried the body to Guttervile.

“Did you find mommy!” An orange and pine filly runs up to the group.

Royal Crest gives the filly a sad look. Understanding the little filly looks at the sleeping bag now blood stained.

“Honey, We should go,” Greens tries to usher the filly.

“I want to see!” The filly yells rushing past the blue pony. She grabs the sleeping bag's zipper and pulls. The mare’s body and guts spill out onto the street causing the filly to scream in horror. Before anyone could stop her she turns and runs.

“I’ll go get her,” Greens tells the group.

“I should go along,” Troja replied, "I may be of some help."

Both of the ponies run off after the filly.

They rolled the dead mare back into the sleeping bag taking it to a place where Sioux Falls could work on it. Max now free decides to report back to Melissa.

The griffon was curled up into a bed like a cat. She had been lethargic since the transformer fusion. She also been unable to summon Convoy from with it her. But the Cybertronian could still communicate.

“Max is that you?” Convoy asks.

“How are you aware of me every time I walk into the room?” Max remarks.

“I have omiawareness up to twelve feet,” Convoy answers.

“The rumors are true about the strange deaths around here,” Max reports as he walks up to the griffon. “There seems to be ghosts that come out at night that hunts down mares. Sioux Falls is doing the final autopsy. The mare’s child had seen the dead body of her mother and ran off. Troja and a towns pony is searching for the child.”

“Ummm,” The griffon suddenly stretches, “You do realize you don’t have to talk into my pussy to speak to him.”

Max realized the griffon’s rear was inches from his face. She smirks back at him as she rolls her tail back down her butt crack.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Max snaps at Convoy.

“Like I should know proper sexual interaction,” Convoy snaps back, “It would help if you weren’t naked.”

“I’m wearing a bandana,” Melissa teased the Cybertronian.

“That’s not what I mean,” Convoy was starting to feel warm from inside the griffon.

“Are you blushing?” Melissa laughs at the warm feeling inside her.

Troja and Greens walk into the room. The filly was sheeplessly behind them.

“I see you’re awake,” Greens notes.

“I heard you went after a child,” Melissa asks.

“This little one,” Troja steps out of the way to show the filly to the griffon. She was crusty teary eyed.

“Hey, little one,” The griffon says in a kind tone trying the pat the filly on the head. The child flinched away.

“What’s your name?” The griffon asked the young one.

“Runner,” The filly answers.

“I’m going to talk to Sioux Falls for a moment,” Melissa tells Troja.

“Sure you’re going to be okay?” Troja asks.

“My body feels like lead weights, but lighter than it has been,” Melissa gives a weak smile before walking off.

Max, Troja, Greens, and Runner went to the Followers of the Apocalypse community center. The center acted as a place where children could meet and play games with the supervision of their parents and other adults. The place was ran by a blue alicorn known simply as Master.

“Royal!” Runner ran up to the purple and silver pony who was standing next to a little light blue colt with a blue mane turning silver as it grew out.

“Runner,” The colt gives the filly a sad look.

“Megasilver,” Runner puts her head in the colt’s chest.

Royal Crest lets the two foals embrace each other.

“Is that foal your son? His mane is cute,” Troja remarks.

“Yeah, Victory and I were partners,” Royal Crest wipes tears from her eyes. “We decided to have our children at the same time.”

“They don’t have the same father do they?” Troja asks, “Because they make a cute couple.”

“No, Victory and I always hoped our children would pair,” Royal Crest smiles.

There was also a clinic connected to the community center that the FotA ran out the back. This was where Victory Finish’s body was taken.

A blue male alicorn by the name of Sirmiss helped Sioux Falls with the autopsy. She had a uterus in her hooves when Melissa walked in.

“How’s the autopsy do-ing,” The griffon starts to speak then stares at the disemboweled pony.

“What’s the matter?” Sioux Falls asks.

“She saw this?” Melissa asks.

“Who?” Sirmess replied.

“This mare’s daughter saw the body as we were transporting it,” Sioux Falls explains.

“That sounds horrific,” Sirmiss said in shock.

“At least the upper half is untouched,” Melissa remarks.

“You’re wanting to say something?” Sioux Falls asks.

“I was hoping that the filly would be able to get another look at her mother,” The griffon sighs, "Something not so grotesque this time."

“You look kind of guilty, something bugging you?” Sioux Falls points out, “You always seem to get this way around pony bodies. Does it have something to do with horses being your natural pray?”

“Well I hate to admit I have stripped the meat off a pony in the past,” Melissa sighs. “Wondering the wasteland you kind of got to find good meat when you can. I mean, I’m a meat eater so I’m not squeamish. Out of respect we would always burry and mark what we didn’t use. But after you string a mare or buck up a tree and degut them. Having to deal with a body in this manner is very off putting.”

“I see,” Sioux Falls remarks as she cuts open the mare’s uterus, “Well other than her utters all organs appears to be in tack and…that’s...”

Sirmiss looks down into the open uterus to see a fetus. “She’s pregnant? I don’t think she was trying to breed again.”

“You’re in charge of those kind of exams?” Sioux Falls asks.

“Well yeah, last time her and her partner bread I examined them both,” Sirmiss answers.

“Examine? Both aren’t female?” Melissa asks.

“Umm yes?” Sirmiss answers, “Her lover is Royal Crest. They had their children to gather.”

“Good catch Mel,” Sioux Falls remarks, “Not shocked they had their children at the same time though, You know lesbianic tendencies and feelings between mares and in griffons are really an extreme result of deeply seeded herding and grouping instincts. When they go into heat they help each other choose the right males to fornicate with.”

“Anyway, you’re saying this pregnancy may most likely be an accident since you didn’t know she was um breeding.” Melissa says to Sirmiss.

“Yes,” The alicorn buck shakes his head.

“You can tell who ever if they want to see her that I’ll have Miss Finish cleaned up within the hour,” Sioux Falls tells the griffon.

“Thanks,” Melissa replied as she walks out.

Melissa sends out a mental message to Troja as she walks to the community center.

(So she was pregnant?) Troja replied, (I’ll ask her about it.)

“Royal could you come here?” Troja speaks up.

The purple earth pony trotted over to them.

“What is it?” Royal Crest asks.

“Autopsy showed, that Victory Finish was pregnant,” Troja told the mare in her monotone voice.

Royal Crest gives a gasp covering her mouth with her hoof. Silent tears rolls down her face. Suddenly without a word she stomps up to Greens and punched him in the muzzle.

“You bastard!” The mare shouts.

Greens lashed forward to strike her back but Max stops him.

“Mommy why did you hit papa Greens?” Megasilver cries.

“Okay people let’s just take this outside,” Max said as he and Troja takes the buck and mare out the door.

Master takes the foals Runner and Megasilver away to make sure they didn’t fallow.

When Melissa came walking up, Max and Troja was watching Greens and Royal Crest beating the snot out of each other in a good old fashion parking lot fight.

“Should we stop them?” Convoy asks from within Melissa.

“Ah, we have a few minutes,” Melissa whines, "Horse fights are hilarious, they don't have claws so they aren’t going to hurt each other too bad."

“They are biting one another,” Convoy points out.

The griffon fires a shot into the air.

“Look kids as much as I like to watch a good horse fight between earthers and it is fun to watch,” Melissa nods her head, “I’d like you two healthy for your children’s sake.”

“The autopsy of Victory Finish is finished,” Melissa told the ponies, “Now I suggest, you take her daughter to go see her unless you want the last image that girl to have of her mother is her disemboweled corpse.”

“Damn it,” Royal Crest snaps then points at Greens, “This isn’t over.”

“I don’t want to fight you,” Greens replied, “But I’m not going to let you beat the crap out of me.”

“You, get your lover’s fuck baby and take her to the clinic,” Melissa orders pointing at Royal Crest.

Royal Crest walks back into the community center. She comes out with the orange and green filly.

Sioux Falls had strapped the sheet down so it wouldn’t slip below the waste. The filly cries over the body.

“I hope this helps,” Royal Crest sighs.

“It will,” Melissa nods her head.

“Nightfall will be soon, I want to help hunt down the things that killed her,” The earth pony tells the griffon. “I can use guns.”

“Get your boyfriend as well. I’ll get the team to gather,” Melissa replied.

>

The team plus Royal Crest and Greens stood in a meeting room. Melissa slides a holographic device across the table. A map of Manehattan appears.

“From research and accounts of survivors who saw these things. These shadow foals will appear as long as there is no other being within sight of the target,” Melissa explains to the group.

The griffon clicks on a section of the map zooming in on a set of blocks. “I chosen this section for the op. The tall buildings will give the illusion of isolation the creatures need to hunt their pray. These alleyways would give us easy access to each other. I place the females of the group at these locations making a circle to give us the best chance of enticing the things out. The males of the group will be stationed at these locations to give the best chance of back up.”

“I see three locations for males,” Max notes, “Is Convoy…?”

“See for yourself,” The holographic projector speaks. Before their eyes it turns into a tiny pony. “Melissa has a spritebot ready for me to go into.”

“That’s nice,” Sioux Falls smiles.

“We have a few hours before estimated sunset,” Melissa tells the group.

“Unless it decides to hover over the horizon again,” Troja adds, “Last time it stayed there for four hours.”

>

Melissa fought off her sleepiness as she patrolled the abandon city block.

(Melissa? Are you okay)” Convoy asks over their mental link. “I sense you are weakening.”

(I’m okay,) Melissa replied.

“I’m sensing something,” Troja speaks over a communication device. “Sadness, pain, aloneness, multiplied by many.”

“I see something,” Sioux Falls shouts over the air. “Glowing pink eyes with a shine that reminds me of water shadows.”

“Okay move in to Sioux Falls’s location,” Melissa orders.

“Ahh!” Royal Crest screams over the radio, “Eyes! Many eyes in the darkness, The darkness it's expanding and coming closer.”

“My creature disappeared!” Sioux Falls yells.

“Max! You're the closest!” Melissa shouts. There was no reply, “Max? Max! Fuck!”

The griffon took off to the air. For a moment she swoons as her head spinned. She quickly recovered.

Melissa could see Sioux Falls with her night vision. The pegasus took the griffon’s lead. They saw Royal Crest running from a wave of deep solid darkness.

The two land a few yards in front of Royal Crest who happens to trip as they touched pavement. The darkness full of shadow foals with the colorful glowing sad eyes mob the mare. Royal Crest screams as the shadow creatures bit into her flesh.

Sioux Falls and Melissa fire onto the shadow foals. Their bullets were having no effect on the creatures.

“I think this is over our pay grade,” Sioux Falls points out noticing how useless the bullets were.

“Your right,” Melissa puts the purple mare out of her misery with a bullet to the head.

A moment later the shadow foals retreated from the mare leaving her under belly ripped open. By the time the others reached the area the last of the inky darkness disappeared.

“Royal!” Greens runs up to the body of the purple earth mare.

Melissa looks around the group. Max was missing.

“Has anyone see Max?” Melissa asks, “He was closest to this location but I couldn't bring him up on the radio.”

Troja glows her horn. “He’s a few blocks away, I’m sensing pain and confusion.”

“Come with me, I need to find him,” Melissa orders.

The pony and griffon walks off.

“Those shadow foals where made from Discord matter,” Troja notes.

“So they are something else that punched a hole in reality,” Melissa remarks.

“These things are legend,” Troja points out, “Been around for years. Same for Sioux Falls, She has parents and they have parents. The pipbuck monsters as well. It’s like the cosmos spread Discord matter randomly across the universe so that every spec could come together at the right place and time and become something?”

“That’s deep,” Melissa remarks, “What kind of event you think this is leading up too?”

“Given the nature of things, it could have already happened,” Troja adds, “The Discord matter was defusing in the pipbucks. Not assuming into one being. What ever happened, Now that fate let its leash go we have the clean the mess.”

“Nice theory,” Melissa shrugged.  

They found Max wondering dazed and confused.

“Max are you okay?” Melissa asks the pony.

“Um, miss have you seen my wife?” Max asks as he swooned a little, “I got back from a mission and she and my son left somewhere?” The buck looks around. “I’m not even sure where I am?”

“Max you don’t remember me?” Melissa asks.

“Melissa Featherborn my CO…” Max gets a starry look in his eyes. “When did the Steel Rangers start using griffons?”

“Troja what’s happening to him?” Melissa demands to the mutie unicorn.

“He has been having migraines,” Troja notes, “The buck did tell us he had a change of attitude after getting hit in the head. This confusion could be a symptom of that. I think it will pass because this must have happened to him before.”

“Can you fix him?” Melissa asks.

“Yes, but not-“ 

“Do it,” Melissa orders.

The unicorn shrugs, She uses her magic on the buck. The normal look goes on Max’s eyes.

“What happen?” He asks noticing the concerned look from Troja and Melissa. “You guys wasn’t here a minute ago?”

“Boy, there is something you should know,” Melissa speaks to the earth pony.

>

The Arcane team packs up their transport.

“We will send out another team that will bring equipment that will be specialized to catch ephemeral beings,” Melissa tells Greens. “In the mean time just make sure no mare walks the streets alone.”

Greens nods his head.

The team gets on the vehicle and drives off.

Somewhere two young foals lay with each other soaking one another’s fur with tears. In an impulsive reaction they quickly kiss each other on the lips then snuggle closer.
___
“Beware the shadows that lurk in the darkness people, you know the rumor about the foals that stock the night. The government just confirmed they are real and warns those who wonder Manehattan at night not to go alone. Just another dark past come back to hurt our future. But fet not my ponies there is always hope. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> Fringe-IDW/Observer/He Who Watches Your #2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   “Since when did ponies start living in Ponyville?” The griffon remarks to Ginger Roots.

“Weird I know,” The unicorn was holding a flat blue waste container with her magic. It had a green sticker on it.

“Do we even still have green stickers to give out?” The other griffon scratches his head.

“I think we have yellow,” The first griffon states.

“Isn’t that for mixed stool?” Ginger Roots points out, “I’m a strict vegetarian.”

“In the long run it doesn’t matter,” The griffon remarks.

“I just want to exchange this for my food voucher,” Ginger Roots waves the container in the air.

“Okay,” The griffon takes the blue container and tosses it in the back of the truck.

As the griffon was writing out the voucher, Ginger Roots pulls out her credentials.

“Government employee so I get double vouchers,” Ginger Roots told the griffin with a smile.

“Of course,” The griffon rolls his eyes.

“Move it pony!” A hellhound snaps with two other hellhounds behind him.

Ginger Roots gives the canine a scowl as she takes her food voucher. She stomps away as a hellhound steps forward. He gives the griffon a container with a red sticker.

“Yoe! You!” One of the waste truck griffons flies over to the ginger unicorn. “You’re an investigator?”

“Depends,” Ginger Roots answers.

“There is a strange pony watching the manure truck,” The griffon tells the pony. “He wears a suit and het. The pony has no hair but his skin is black.”

“This does sound strange,” Ginger Roots replied, “Sure he’s not a ghoul or mutie.”

“Could be a mutie but I could tell if he was a ghoul,” The griffon told her, “I catch glimpses of him when I fly patrol. I even seen him in town.”

“Well that’s not good,” Ginger Roots remarks, “If the dogs catch any unauthorized ponies in Ponyville they would throw a fit.”

>

“You’re sure this hairless pony is real?” Vespa snared.

“I’d rather not risk causing an incident,” Ginger Roots explains.

“Why should we care about a pony watching poo?” Vespa snaps.

“Because with the right lab, for example one of the many abandon war era labs one could make a bomb from poo,” Deseret smirks. The cream griffon was still recovering from a gunshot wound and there for was lying in bed.

“You can also make bombs from meat waste,” Vespa adds, “But I get your point stealing crap is bad.”

“Where is Melissa?” Ginger Roots asks.

“She’s over doing an exchange at the Poo For Food truck,” Deseret answers.

“Yeah, ‘exchange’,” Vespa rolls her eyes.

>

Here, I got three steaming ones for you, Well not steaming. You know what I mean,” Melissa fluttered at the male griffon.

She hands over three blue trays with red stickers on them.”

“So, this looks fascinating,” The femgriffon continued, “Thats a lot of crap and those stickers, so many colors, whats that all about?” [She knew the answer, she just wanted to get him to talk.]

“Quality of the fecal matter,” The male griffon said in a deadpan tone, “Horses adsorb nutrients poorly so thier crap tens to have a tone of solid plant matter that makes good fertilizer for the growing fields. So, we give ponies a green sticker for plant eater. Crap from creatures that eat meat diets, like us and the hellhounds. Makes for lower quality fertilizer. Yellow is for mixed diet. Purple is for eradiated like alicorns and ghouls. Some plants grow better with a little radiation.”

“That’s so fascinating,” Melissa played on, “So how much longer are you going to stay around here?”

“Skinny!” Vespa shouts as she lands.

“-Urgh!” Melissa gives an extremely irritated expression, “See that tray over there. It may contain semen.”

“Melissa don’t start with me,” Vespa snaps.

“And with that he as all the clues he needs,” Melissa announced.

“You’re not letting that go,” Vespa grubbed.

“It’s a gay move sis,” Melissa stroke the dark griffon under her chin with her tail in a teasing gesture.

“Me, you, sky,” Vespa orders as she flies off.

Melissa rolls her eyes and takes off after her sister.

“What do you want to talk about in privet?” The griffon asks.

“The poo truck reported a strange pony fallowing them,” Vespa tells Melissa, “They say the pony is in Ponyville.”

“A pony in Ponyville?” Melissa said in shock, “Okay, other than Ginger Roots.”

“I know, weird heh,” Vespa smirks.

“Okay what are we getting into? Pegasus?” Melissa gives a shifty look to the sky above her. “Unicorn? Earth pony?”

“From the description he’s not a pegasus,” Vespa answers, “He’s wearing a hat so he could be a unicorn. But he’s hairless.”

“Eew,” Melissa cringed.

“Well anyway its most likely out here,” Vespa told her sister.

“Well if I was a grounder and I had to spy on a truck I would be…” Melissa scans the rooves of a set of nearby buildings. Soon she saw a pony shape spec. “Well that was easy.” Melissa points down with her claw.

The two griffons fly to the spot where they seen the pony, not taking their eye off of him. But when they got there he was gone.

“What the heck?” Vespa scratched her head. “You saw him right?”

“Yeah, He was right here then gone,” Melissa answers.

“Some kind of stealth tech?” Vespa asks.

“I don’t know,” Melissa replied, “Stealth devices aren’t as effective on me, so I should still spot him.”

“Hey he’s over there,” Vespa points at the roof of the building across from them.

He was indeed a hairless pony in a hat and suit. Watching the Poo For Food truck and writing down notes. The pony looks at the ponies with a blank look and disappears.

“I think we are going to need some help,” Melissa points out.

>

The Poo For Food truck takes off from Ponyville. Two griffons pulled it like ponies across the landscape. A truely awesome sight if the cargo they were pulling wasn’t hundreds of pounds of shit. A third griffon would make patrols and fly around the wagon.

Vaspa, Deseret, and Melissa watched the wagon from a cloud.

“Okay, they are taking that thing to New Appleloosa hitting a few small villages along the way,” Deseret tells them.

“We are not going to fly all the way over there are we?” Vespa groans.

“According to you two it shouldn’t take long to spot him,” Deseret answers, “We keep him moving on the ground until our trap triggers.”

“I’ll make a quick fly around,” Melissa states as she eyes the patrolling griffon.

Deseret groans, “Just get it out of your system.”

Melissa nods her head and flies down to the male griffon. They circled around each other then fly off.

“Okay, let’s keep an eye out for our prey.” Deseret reminds her other sister.

The two griffons flew along the cloudline trying to spot the hairless pony. Vespa spotted her sister and companion by a tree. She tried to ignore that.

Deseret meets back around. “I’m not seeing anything out of the norm.”

“He has the be somewhere,” Vespa sneered.

As Deseret looked at Vaspa she gets wide eyed with her mouth hanging open.

“What is it?” Vespa gives the griffon a confused look.

“The cloud behind you,” Deseret points out.

To Vespa’s shock the hairless observer was watching them from a cloud taking notes.

“He must be a unicorn,” The dark griffon states.

The observer pony gives the bird lions a blank look and disappears.

“That complicates the plan,” Deseret remarks.

“What now?” Vespa asks.

Deseret glances at a control tower in the distance. “Ask for some help. Stay here, if Melissa comes back and tell her where I went.”

“Yes ma’am,” Vespa answers.

Deseret enters the control room of the tower.

“Littlepip!” She calls out, “You hear me?”

“Ah, Deseret,” A tingy female voice says over the speakers, “I saw you doing something? I thought you were assigned to helping Ginger Roots at Ponyville? And aren’t you heading off to an expedition soon?”

“Well I came upon a side mission,” Deseret shrugs, “The Poo For Food truck is being stocked by a strange hairless pony. He's not a pegasus but has the ability to walk on clouds plus teleporting. He stays near the area he teleports from but…”

“You want me to remove the clouds to lower is options.” Littlepip finishes.

“Could you please,” Deseret begs politely.

“Okay, but it’s going to get windy. I suggest you stay here.” Littlepip warns.

“Yes,” Deseret nods her head.

The wind outside blew really hard for about ten minutes. When the griffon peered outside the sky was clear.

“Thanks,” Deseret replied just as she flies off.

When she met up with Vespa her feathers were ruffled from the wind.

“I hope you're okay,” Deseret smirks.

“Yeah, I just had to hunker down for a few moments,” Vespa shakes putting her feathers back in relative place.

“Let’s see if we can find this pony,” Deseret tells her sister.

The two griffons take off to the sky. They spotted their target, then spun around him and came in a direction so that if he teleported be around a certain area when he reappeared.

The observer pony did indeed teleport away and appeared in the area they wanted him to be. The griffons circled again and the pony teleported again.

The observer appeared by a tree near a bush startling the two griffons thumping each other up in the tree.

Melissa screams,

The hairless pony was frozen in shock from the random encounter.

"What are you doing get out of here!” Both the griffon and pony said in unison.

Suddenly the ground rumbles. A hellhound burst forth from the ground and grabs the pony.

“I got you!” The beast snaps.

“Oh no,” Melissa's heart sinks.

Deseret and Vespa lands nearby.

“I see your having fun,” Vespa smirks at the griffon attached to Melissa’s rump. The female griffon hides her head as the griffon tom backs off of her.

Without saying a word the pony head butts the hellhound. A bright blue flash came from the impact and the hellhound was knocked out. As soon as the hellhound lets loose from the observer, he disappears.

“Lassie!” Vespa cries rushing over to the hellhound's side.

“I’m okay,” She replied.

“Wait? Isn’t that the hellhound you hooked up with the other day?” Melissa realized.

“Not now,” Vespa snaps through clinched teeth.

“That's a female, but your butt was hurting?” Melissa points out.

“Do you want me to bring up you just now?” Vespa snaps.

“That wasn’t my butt,” Melissa teased.

“There is no winning with you,” Vespa spats.

“Will you two stop it,” Deseret snaps, “Let’s report to Littlepip.”

>

“Looking back through the tower camera's archive system, Thank you Pinkie Pie and Ministry of Morale," Littlepip remarks, "Homage and I have spotted twelve of these hairless ponies. They seem to be watching over areas that have strange disasters about to happen.”

“That doesn’t explain why he's watching a poo truck,” Melissa points out.

“It doesn’t, But I fear we will find out soon,” Littlepip sighs, “I will keep an eye out and hope others like you can step up to the hero’s plate.”

>

A red and pink pegasus falls a long distance out of the sky. When she hits the earth, she makes a bloody splat.

“Seen that?” one of the griffons pulling the truck points at the spot of impact.

“I’ll check it out,” The patrol griffon flies over to the pegasus.

From in the distance they could see their companion. The griffons unstrapped themselves from the truck and fly over.

By the time they noticed the gas steaming from the blood it was too late. The two griffons turned blue and pass out.

The pegasus's wounds heal and she stands up. Tentacles shoot out from her rear end piercing bloodily through the griffons.
___
“Remember ponies, Looking back it’s hard to say what events are the ones at will lead us to the new future. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> G1/Megan Williams/Fallen Angel From Over the Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The bandits breaths steams heavily as they ran across the snow dusted streets.

She takes one of them in her sniper scope. Her winter chilled finger slides through the trigger guard. Her pale hairless cheeks reflex as she takes a swallow. She holds her breath and fires.

The top of the pony’s skull, the top of the pony’s brain explodes. Teeth roll across the asphalt like dice.

The remaining bandit hides behind a vehicle. As he ducks one of his allies shoots cover fire at the sniper's window.

She jumps through a hole in the floor. The young woman brushed her strawberry blond hair away from her face showing an Enclave like mask.

Armed ponies wondered the floor looking for the creature that’s not them.

One of the ponies, A mare blood brown and with a dirt gold mane, cutie mark two blue lightning bolts, Walks in front of the doorway near the young woman.

The woman swiftly, silently, pulls out a knife. She covers the blood brown mare with a dirt gold mane and two blue lighting bolt’s mouth to muffle the whinny she made as the knife poked into her neck.

“Shuuu,” The woman whispers in the mare’s ear. The pony sheds tears before gently closing her eyes.

She drags the body around the corner as another pony walks into the room. The pony slowly moves sensing something was wrong.

The woman takes out a small gun. Picking up a large teddy bear, she presses it up against the drywall wall. The gun shots were muffled. The pony on the other side groans as he hits the ground with a thud.

The metal bar makes a hollow scraping sound as it is drug across the concrete floor. The pony on the ground was coughing up blood, even gargled a little. She swings the bar down and with a crack breaks through the eye socket.

>

Two foal struggle against their ropes.

“You stop that!” A bandit pony yells at the foals.

Both foals had black manes. One had a red coat the other, younger one had a blue. The younger foal had the fogged over eyes of the blind. The older foal had silver eyes.

“You think it is still out there?” The bandit with the ocarina cutie mark asks the bandit with the dragon tooth.

“Do you think it was a minotaur?” Dragon Tooth replied.

“No, has to be an elf,” Ocarina shook his head.

Suddenly a black suited figure steps out behind the ocarina pony and stabs him in the back a number of times. Before the dragon tooth pony could react she fires two bullets. The first hit the side of the pony’s skulk chipping a plate of bone away. The second bullet hits the pony in the neck.

Both horses fall dead. Blood splatter peppered the foals causing them to scream and cry.

“It’s okay sweeties,” The woman consoled the young ponies as she takes out a knife. The blade makes short work of the binding. She then removes the insectoid Enclave mask. “My name is Megan.”

“Are you an angel?” The blue foal asks in awe of the creature.

She reminded the pony of stories of angels. Mythical bipedal almost hairless skinny creatures. Said to be Beautiful, Just, Strong, and Caring beings who smite the wicked in bloody satisfaction.

“I might,” Megan replied getting a look in her eyes of someone who’s trying to reach an old almost forgotten memory.

Bam!

A bullet flies through Megan’s shoulder hitting the asphalt below. Blood squirts from her wound bathing the woman in red. She drops to her knees, her body struggling to breathe.

A pony marches up to the woman and presses a gun up to her head.

“Time to die, whatever you are,” He said with a deathly smile.

Blam!

The pony is knocked against the ground by a shotgun blast fired by the red foal.

Megan looses consciousness.

>

The woman felt cold, it was dark and wet. She found herself back into the past. Herself as a child curled naked in a ball lying on a bed of hay. Scabs and welts marked her skin.

A splash of wet hits Megan’s face. The cold liquid jars the woman awake. She found herself unable to sit up because the two foals were resting on her chest.

Unable to deal with Megan’s body suit barding. They had to strip her naked to dress her wounds. After words the children snuggled up to her to keep the angel and themselves warm.

“You awake?” The blind blue pony asks his chin placed on her breast like a fleshy pillow.

“Could you move,” Megan grunts and she pushed her way up. The two foals slipped into her lap.

“Hey, he’s awake,” The red foal cheers.

“She, Ink Brush,” The blue foal points out, “I’m pretty sure this creature doesn’t have a penis.”

“H-She’s an angel Lighting Stroke,” Ink Brush insists, "They aren't supposed to have dicks.”

“What about pussies? Because I smell a vagina,” Stroke points out.

Megan gets to her feet and shivers from the cold. She gives and exhale making clouds in the air.

Spotting a trough of water, she walks up to it. The water was icy cold and she splashes her face with it even drinking a little.

“Angels have wings,” Stroke adds.

“Aren’t those supposed to be made of light?” Brush shakes his head, “How would you know if they are there? Yeah, she doesn’t have glowing wings but still look at those scars on her back. Maybe she’s a fallen angel.”

Megan found herself smiling that the conversation, even if it was about the whip marks the slave masters gave her so many years ago.

She peels back the bandage to look at her bullet wound.

“I fixed you up,” Brush boasted.

“You did a good job kid,” Megan pats the beaming pony on the head.

Finding her barding in the corner of the room, Megan slips into them. As she was putting on the tattered and stitched together jump suit the foals disappeared. Later the foals came back with some brown dry grass.

“What’s this?” Megan asks.

“Food,” Brush answers.

“I can’t eat that,” Megan told them.

“Well what do you eat?” Stroke asks.

Megan starts to list off.”Well fresh vegetables, fruits and berries, meat.” The foals flinched at the word ‘meat’. “But you really shouldn't run off.”

“Yes ma’am,” Brush replied.

“Let’s get a move on kids,” Megan picks up her gear.

“Where are you taking us?” Stroke asks.

“Junction Town has an orphanage ran but Fluttershy,” Megan explains.

“We are going to see Fluttershy?” Stroke wags his tail.

“Fluttershy is a bitch,” Brush snaps, “Why can’t we stay with you?”

Megan gets a smirk on her face. “You don’t want to question the angels now do you?”

>

Megan lies on her belly. Fluffy snowflakes fall on the field. A prairie dog is lined up in her rifle’s scopes.

“Miss angel, M-Megan,” Brush ask nervously more stuttering from the cold, “Can I shoot.”

Megan looked at the young pony then sighs.

“Okay but keep in mind if you don’t hit anything your lovely angel is going to starve tonight.” She told the pony.

The angel takes a moment to switch the safety on so she could attached the mouth trigger to the gun without it firing off.

Brush puts a chunk of leather in his mouth to protect his teeth.

“Now remember safety first,” Megan tells Brush.

“I’ve handle guns before,” Brush explains taking the leather out for a moment. “I never fired this kind.”

“Well this is a whole different beast then a shotgun.” The angel points out.

The young pony puts his mouth on the trigger and pokes his eye through the scope. Finding a target, he flips the safety off and pulls.

Blam!

All the prairie dogs scatter.

“Sorry, I missed, But I was close,” Brush tells Megan as he switched the safety back.

Megan shrugs as she pops a can of two hundred year old peaches.”Wait awhile a try again,” She stabs a half a lobe with a fork and takes a bite. “Remember to hold your breath before firing so not to shake your gun.”

>

A hideless ground squirrel with a stick throught it was roasting near a fire. When the meat cooked enough Megan pulls the stick out from the ground.

The two foals cuddled up against the woman with a large blanket covering the three of them.

Megan pulls a chunk of cooked muscle tissue off the animal and puts it in her mouth. Brush gives her a puppy dog look.

“You want a piece kid?” Megan asks.

Brush nods his head. Megan pulls a chunk of meat off. The little pony eats it out her hand.

“Can I have a piece too?” Stroke asks as Megan wipes the slobber onto her pants.

“I suppose you can,” The woman gives the small blue pony a chunk of meat as well this time placing it in the foal’s mouth.

>

Megan and the pony foals walked into Junction Town. Some of the ponies gave the humanoid a strange look. But she wasn’t the first upright creature they seen and certainly wouldn’t be the last. She was just one of the many oddities that showed up now and then.

“Megan?” Stroke speaks up, “Can we stay with you a bit longer?”

“Well I got to sell my gear,” Megan pats the pony on the head.

She had to get onto her knee to talk to the merchant pony face to face. After some negotiation, Megan sold the guns and ammo from the bandit ponies she killed plus the furs from the animals she had to kill for food.

“Megan?” A beautiful black pony with a bronze color song bird on her flank stops the angel.

“Velvet,” Megan greets with a smile, “How are you doing?”

“Oh, fine Calamity and I are going to have a foal by next spring,” Velvet answers.

“I thought you looked like you had a bun in the oven,” Megan smirked, “Breeding season ended a few months ago. So it’s not too surprising”

“Don’t get me started, when you got the itch you know? What are you going to do about it?”  Velvet sighs, “Going into heat wasn’t an issue back in the Stables though, so the springs and summers over the years out here has been neh, taxing. I’ve been told it has to do with the sun light.”

Velvet sees the two foal’s behind Megan. “Who are these cuties?”

“Ink Brush and Lighting Stroke,” Megan explains foals I rescued from bandits. I’m going to give them to Fluttershy.”

“Oh dear,” Velvet gets a sad look, “Well I’ll let you go on your way.”

Megan lets the foals go off and play with the other orphans as she meets with Fluttershy.

“You could always adopt,” Fluttershy response to Megan’s look from watching the foals.

“What?” Megan snaps out of her trance.

“Adopt,” Fluttershy response, “Settle down, You have many useful skills you could do with those hands of yours.”

“No, they be…”

“Don’t give me that crap,” Fluttleshy snaps in her gentle tone, “A parent is a parent. I can tell you care for the foals.”

“I’m too broken to be a mother,” Megan sighs.

“Megan you are not broken, At least no more broken then the rest of us,” Fluttershy tells the woman, “You can’t find what you are looking for out there. You have a chance to take everything you need in front of you.”

“Sorry, I can’t,” Megan replied coldly.

Fluttershy sighs, “Very well, I’m not saying they will be here waiting for you, there are so many foals, so they most likely won’t be taken anytime soon if ever.”

“I understand,” Megan nods her head.

The foal’s angel walks up to them. They give her sad looks. There was a long silence between them.

As she was about to leave, Brush runs up and hugs her tears rolling down his cheeks. Stroke did the same.

“Come now,” Megan pets the ponies, “I have to leave, but I’ll be coming back again sooner or later.”

“You promise?” Stroke asks pleadingly.

Brush lets her go, allowing Megan to turn and walk away. She wipes tears away as she walks out of town with an orange sky above her.
___
“To the alien among us, those who are not from this land, who are not ponies, but still strive to make the world better. Thank You, DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> Toy/Rainbowfied/Everybody is the New Rainbow Dash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   “Remember ponies, When you’re the best, you’re better than the rest. DJ Pon3 Homage, keeping it awesome.”

Homage takes the coffee cup up with her magic.

“These mornings are getting harder and harder,” She remarks to herself drinking from the coffee cup.

The unicorn removes her robe and walks over to the bathroom to spruce herself up in the mirror.

Click!

Homage pulls the chain to her bathroom light allowing her to see herself.

To her shock there was a steel gray mare, but her mane. Her mane wasn’t the blue it should be. It had change to streaks of blue, yellow and red. Her horn was striped with the same colors. Homage looks down at her legs to see they broke out in cutie mark like objects in the shape of multicolored quotation marks.

“What the f- “

>

“-uck,” Max found himself on his back in a gurney. The bucks stared down at his crotch. His scrotum was swollen and staples sealed a surgical incision down the middle.

“Hello! Is anyone here!” Max shouts, “And who the fuck took my balls!”

“Fusssk! He said balls,” A pony giggles over the PA.

“This isn’t funny!” Max roars back.

“Come on man, hold your horses, wait you can’t,” The voice mocked back.

Max painfully climbs down from the gurney and limps to the door. He pounds on the door's side and shouts. “Come out here and I’ll show you.”

“I see what you are trying to do, but I don’t know, you are falling a little flat.” The pony replied.

“Errr,” Max growled.

“Hey, A griffon!” The pony over the PA points out.

Thrack!

“Max? You’re uninfected?” Melissa’s voice says over the PA.

“Infected with what?” Max replied.

“Megan, give him the vaccine,” Melissa orders.

“Megan?” Max says to himself.

A syringe with glowing violent liquid slides under the door.

“Inject yourself with that,” Melissa tells the buck.

Max stabs his shoulder with the syringe. “Melissa? What’s going on? I woke up in here and some bastard castrated me.” He tells the griffon.

“Castrated? You mean you didn’t know?” Melissa said in shock.

“Didn’t know what?” Max raised an eye.

“By law all raiders and who used to be raiders are gelded,” Melissa explains, “By definition raiders are rapists and all rapists loose their rights to breed. Also it allows us to keep both males and females in the same prison and not care about then fucking each other.”

“Well, I remember passing out,” Max tries to think back. “I don’t remember anyone telling me they were going to take my buckhood away from me.”

“Yeah, we had to put you in the hospital,” Melissa replied, “Your in Tenpony, I guess they decided to snip you well you were passed out. Sorry man, that was over a day ago.”

“I’ve been out for over a day!” Max shouts, “What happened?”

The door opens, A humanoid female was on the other side.

“See for yourself,” She told the buck.

“I take it you’re Megan?” Max remarks.

The buck slowly limps out the door. In front of him was a disheveled hallway. Pon3’s voice could be heard over the radio.

“Good morning to me and all of you who isn’t me. Homage here the very best D- no, best pony in the whole wide world. Want to say, I thank myself for being the best.”

“Sorry about this, but I don’t think I have time to find a bathroom,” Max puts his forehooves on the wall. He began to painfully urinate at a slow trickle.

The buck’s hooves start to slip causing Megan to have to hold him up.

“Thanks,” Max told the woman as he finished.

Melissa walked from around the corner dragging an unconscious dark purple pegasus. His hair and wings were in the colors of purple, bluish purple and red. His arrow head cutie mark was lavender. But smaller more simple arrowhead cutie marks covered his body, mostly his legs.

“What is it?” Max asked.

“Over ninety percent of the ponies has caught this disease,” Melissa explains.

“We been trying our best to help these poor souls,” Convoy adds flying up in a spritebot.

“It's hard enough stopping them from hurting themselves,” Megan sighs.

“Could you guys start from the beginning?” Max asks.
>
Three days ago,
>
Troja scans an unconscious Max with her glowing horn. “He should be out for a while,” She tells Melissa, “I’ll order the doctor to scan his brain.”

The party stood at the gates of Tenpony.

“Well I have a ton of mission debriefs to go through back at the office,” Melissa stretched her wings.

“We all have our work to do,” Sioux Falls adds.

A gray unicorn buck with an elkish build and pink tennis racket cutie mark walks up to them.

“Your companion was part of the Enclave?” He points at Sioux Falls.

“Yes,” Melissa answers.

“I have orders to take you with me,” The buck told them.

“This must be serious if they want you to jump to work right after entering the city,” Convoy points out.

“Do you need all of us?” Troja asks, “I should stay with Max.”

“Um, we should be fine for now,” Melissa tells the mutie unicorn.

Melissa and Sioux Falls was led to Tenpony’s marketplace. [The seedy one] There was a good block quarantined off.

“Melissa, aren’t you a sore sight for these pony eyes,” Ginger Roots cheered to the griffon.

“Ginger Roots,” Melissa smiles back, “Sorry you couldn’t make it to the teams last expedition.”

“It's alright,” Ginger Roots ways off.

“It's nice to see you too,” Convoy adds.

“Think you sweet heart,” Ginger Roots replied.

“Now, why em I needed?” Sioux Falls asks.

“Oh, fallow me,” Ginger Roots told them.

The griffon and pegasus walks past the quarantine line to fallow the ginger unicorn.

“I ruled it out of being war era in origin,” Ginger Roots told them, “I believe it to be Enclave in design made within the last hundred years.”

Inside one of the hut like shops was a metal capsule with a cloud shooting lighting made of primary colors.

“If its Enclave make why would it have Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark?” Melissa points out.

“They think it could be a bomb of some kind,” Ginger Roots waves her hoof outside, “I told them it’s not.”

“It’s a biohazard container,” Sioux Falls notes, “I still don’t know why Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark would be on it.”

“If it’s a biohazard we should blow it up,” Melissa remarks.

“No!” Sioux Falls and Ginger Roots said in unison.

“We have no clue what’s inside this thing right now,” Sioux Falls points out.

“What if there are more of these things?” Ginger Roots adds.

“I don’t think the VIN number would be useful after a hundred years but I could still try the Enclave,” Sioux Falls remarks.

“I’ll have to ask the bosses about that,” Melissa answers, “Enclave has a bad habit of covering their past mistakes with death and explosions.”

“Want me to scan the object?” Convoy asks.

“Please do,” Melissa answers.

The griffon breathes blue energy into the device. It turns red.

“That’s not good,” Convoy remarks.

“What is it?” Melissa orders.

“This device has been recently breached,” Convoy explains, “By the pressure this has been opened with in the last few hours.”

“Can you tell us what’s in it?” Sioux Falls demands.

“Let’s see, Data logs shows there’s also vaccines and antivirals inside, The vaccines are still usable but the antiviral is too degenerated to be of use.” Convoy tells them, “This appears to be Cutie Pox but modified with somepony’s DNA.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Sioux Falls told them.

“You know what this is?” Melissa asks.

“Rainbowfied Pox,” Sioux Falls answers, “Cutie Pox modified as to give somepony the appearance of Rainbow Dash’s descendant so we could bypass the Ministry of Awesome’s DNA locks.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t work,” Melissa deadpanned.

“It worked too well,” Sioux Falls told them, “Rainbow Dash’s DNA locks don’t work like the others. You just couldn’t have Rainbow Dash’s DNA. The clones we made of her proved that. There was a personality factor as well. That’s why we used Cutie Pox as a way to modify a pony’s way of thinking.”

“Shit, if Red Eye got a hold of this thing,” Melissa gulped, “I hate to think what he would have done with this.”

“I don’t think he would have done anything with it since he was anticutie mark,” Ginger Roots points out, “I do remember Twilight Sparkle writing about Cutie Pox. Applebloom had them once. Apparently the magical virus is dormant in all ponies. When activated it attacks the cutie mark factor. Some potion caused Applebloom’s Cutie Pox to flare up.”

“We should remove this device,” Convoy suggests.

“I concur,” Melissa agreed.

After wrapping the artifact in plastic, they transported it up to Arcane Division’s research lab.

As Ginger Roots and Sioux Falls settle down with the object, Melissa walks into the AD’s communication room.

“Hi,” Megan speaks up from around the corner. She was playing with a knife in her hand.

“I thought you quit,” Melissa told the woman.

“I didn’t quit, I can just do things on my own that I can’t with a group,” Megan shrugged.

Melissa presses a button on the room’s control panel, “Littlepip, I’m here to report.”

Melissa pauses for a reply.

“Littlepip?” Melissa speaks in the microphone again.

“Over here,” A female voice behind Melissa scares her.

The griffon turns around to see Littlepip smirking at her dressed in casual barding of a white button up shirt and a black vest.

“You’re out of the weather control pod?” Melissa said in shock.

“There was this strange malfunction a few months back. I was sequestered in the tower keeping it a secret until we realize the extent of the malfunction.” Littlepip told the griffon. “The machine has to be shut down for maintenance and complete system reboot going through each tower one by one. Until they are done, I’m stuck here, these repairs could take a year.” The mare smirks, "I'm taking the chance to do something I've thought I'd never do."

Troja walks into the room. “Littlepip is out and about I see,” She scans the pony with her horn.

“Does she always do that?” Littlepip asks nervously.

“Yeah,” Melissa replied.

Troja raised an eyebrow. “You’re pregnant?”

“Um yes, I wanted to have a foal anything wrong with that?” Littlepip gets defensive.

“It’s not normal, the foal it's not a pony,” Troja replied in her monotone voice.

Littlepip’s ears flip back. “Ah…um..Well then… I got to go.”

Littlepip rushed into the elevator trying poorly to hold back her sobs.

“That was mean,” Megan remarks.

“It’s the truth, I don’t know what’s in her belly but it’s not a pony,” Troja answers.

“We’ll let her deal with it,” Melissa snaps.

“That light is flashing,” Troja points out, “I think it’s for you.”

“Melissa! You better come down here,” Sioux Falls says in a giggly tone. “This is kind of cool.”

Melissa, Megan and Troja enters the lab area. Sioux Falls and Ginger Roots were sealed in. The ponies appearances had changed since they were last seen.

Sioux Falls broke out in feather symbols of maroon, grass green and yellow. The colors streaked her wings and mane. Ginger Roots with autumn colored roots spreading across her legs.

“Look if you didn’t like so cheated I would have gotten to the vaccine,” Ginger Roots waves the pink glowing syringes in the air.

“I didn’t cheat you're just slow, a slowy slow poke,” Sioux Falls snaps, “Besides there was nothing we could have done we were already infeck-a? something. Way before we opened that thing? I bet yeah the whole city is like this by now.”

Megan turns on a nearby radio.

“Remember ponies, When you’re the best, you’re better than the rest. DJ Pon3 Homage, keeping it awesome.”

“She’s right, Homage seems to have it too,” Megan points out.

“What’s going on with them?” Convoy asks.

Troja scans the ponies with her horn. “Their personalities have been altered.”

“Of course they are acting like Rainbow Dash,” Melissa points out.

“Are we in danger of getting infected,” Megan points at herself and Melissa.

“We don’t have cutie marks so I don’t think we are,” Melissa replied.

“Unless it makes a jump,” Convoy adds, “Life finds away.”

Ginger Roots taps on the glass. “Guys, let us out, being in here is like ‘so’ boring and stuff.”

“I don’t think we want you infecting our last remaining pony friend,” Megan smiles back.

Sweep!

Sioux Falls had her butt pressed against the glass. Ginger Roots gives her a look.

“Now watch me do an impression of a sucker fish,” Sioux Fall spread her cheeks apart with her hooves and lifts her tail before pressing up against the glass again.

Megan makes a fround and is repulsed back. “If all ponies have the lack of self control as these two.”

“All of Tenpony will fall,” Melissa finishes. She sighs, “Okay, first things first how do we stop Troja from getting sick?”

“Well as these two have said, they have vaccine syringes,” Megan points back at the infected behind her.

“I do have the data to make the antiviral,” Convoy tells them, “This lab appears to be inadequate for making them though, Maybe Tenpony’s hospital?”

“Okay question,” Melissa speaks up, “Difference between vaccine and antiviral?”

“Vaccine stops you from getting sick, antiviral helps fight the illness after you are sick.” Troja explains.

“How is Max doing by the way?” Melissa asks.

“They will keep him sedated monitoring his brain,” Troja answers.

“Okay, We open the lab and grab the vaccine, Give it to Troja before she goes ‘rainbow’.” Melissa tells them, “From there we go to the hospital and use the lab to make the antiviral so that we can cure everypony.”

“Okay,” Megan walks over to the lab door. “What's the code to open this?”

“0206,” Sioux Falls’s vagina replied.

The door buzzes and opens

“Yes I’m free!” Sioux Falls shouts. She turns to Ginger Roots. “Race you chubby.”

“I’m not fat,” Ginger Root huffed chasing after Sioux Falls, “I’m in the perfect physical cond-Awe! Cramp!”

Megan shakes her head and walks into the lab. She came back out with the glowing syringes.

“Troja hold still,” Megan prepares to poke the pony.

“No, Stop, it’s too late,” Troja pulls away.

Before Megan's and Melissa's eyes the lavender pony’s mane and horn turned wood colors. Her legs became covered in wooden horseshoes.

“I’m going to use my like mambo to cast a sadist spell on myself,” Troja told them as she cast a spell making her head glow. The pony passes out.

“Great,” Melissa snaps.

“At least we can still reach the hospital floor,” Convoy points out.

Suddenly the power goes out.

“As you were saying?” Melissa groans.

A voice comes on the radio. “This is Life Bloom, I have put Tenpony tower on lock down to quarantine the outbreak from the rest of the land of Equestria. Radio communication will remain on so I can relay messages to you. But for now all travel between the floors of the town has been halted until further notice.”

“So we are stuck here?” Megan remarks.

“We just have to get down there manually,” Melissa told the woman.

“Can’t you just fly out the window?” Convoy points out.

“Yes, but all the windows are locked tight because of the lockdown,” Melissa explains, “I’m sure I could find some way out. But where would I go and how could I get on the hospital wing from outside?”

“I see your point,” Convoy replied.

They managed to get out of Arcane Division HQ. The streets of Tenpony were full of chaos. Ponies fighting each other. Ponies destroying stuff and the uninfected confused and horrified.

>

“Okay so, you’re here,” Max replied to the others.

“The hospital has its own power source so the lab should be able to make the antivirals,” Convoy tells them, “At least a limited amount. One of you should use the hospital radio to tell Life Bloom we have a cure. Once he’s able to open the tower we should be able to get all the supplies we need to make the full amount.”

“I’ll do that,” Megan says just before opening the door. A rainbowfied Littlepip tumbles out. The pony was dehydrated.

Max became shocked at the sight of Littlepip. Then a sudden migraine caused him to turn and walk away.

Convoy fallows after the buck. “Are you okay?”

“I think I know that mare,” Max moaned.

“She is famous,” Convoy replied.

“No, I met her somewhere,” Max told him, “Could you give me a moment?”

Megan check’s Littlepip’s pulse. “Someone get some water!” She shouts.

Melissa gives Littlepip her canteen. She greedily takes the water.

“What happened,” Melissa asks.

“After what Troja said, I freaked out and came here,” Littlepip explains, “Then things went crazy and the quarantine announcement happened,” Littlepip caresses her belly. “I don’t know I got scared and hid. I should have been helping people, but I hid.”

(She doesn’t seem to be affected by the virus much,) Convoy says over the mental link.

(Of course she’s not affected, she’s already an idiot,) Melissa smirks.

“What are you smirking at?” Littlepip snaps.

Melissa rubs Littlepip on the back. “This fear you feel, look at it this way, it’s part of the sacrifice we make.”

Megan came walking back. “Okay Life Bloom says he’ll lift the quarantine.”

Homage’s voice pops up on the radio. “Now for part twelve of my live reading of Daring Do and the Midas Hoof by Twilight Velvet. There I was standing in front of- something I can’t read, I holding the- I don’t know what that word is either, entering the cat-a-something…”

“Who’s Daring Do?” Max asks.

“All the Rainbows seem to be obsessed with her,” Melissa rolls her eyes.

“Oh Daring Do is like the best,” Littlepip perks up.

“See what I mean,” Melissa smirks.

“I got the first batch of antivirals,” Convoy comes floating up with a batch of yellow milk color liquid.

“One way to find out it works,” Melissa takes the syringe and wipes down Littlepip’s arm.

“Is that safe for per-Ouch!” Melissa stabs Littlepip in midsentence.

“How do you feel?” Melissa asks the pony.

“A little…” Littlepip faints, Melissa catches the pony in her arms. A moment later Littlepip turns back to normal.

“Okay it works now how do we get this to the infected as quick as possible? I don’t think they are mature enough to let us give them all shots.” Melissa notes.

“Antivirals can be produced in a pill form,” Convoy points out, “Tell them its candy.”

“These Rainbow ponies don’t seem to be that smart,” Max adds, “Maybe we can trick them with something they like?”

“If we put on a Daring Do play they would go nuts over it,” Megan smirks.

>

“And so the word was put out that the best actors in Equestria was to perform a Daring Do play, Completely fake of course. To be held just outside of Tenpony. When Tenpony opened its doors, the Rainbow infected flocked to see it. Each pony was given a bag laced with antivirals. And to those wonderful people of Arcane Division who saved us. All my kisses. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”

Sioux Falls and Ginger Roots rub their arms.

“So, lucky that wasn’t a Pinkie Pie themed virus,” Ginger Roots snicker nervously to Sioux Falls.

The look Sioux Falls gives Ginger Roots made the unicorn's heart sink.

“Oh merciful Celestia no,” Ginger Roots gasped.

>

A foal was digging in the dirt went his shovel hits something metal.

“I found something!” The foal shouts as he brushed off the container revealing three balloons markings.
> IDW/Katie Cook and Andy Price OC Ponies/Daring Do and Twilight Velvet’s Special Library
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “Latenight don’t kill me, I have children,” The Blue stallion found himself giggling at the writer’s note.

He was an earth pony with a #2 pencil cutie mark. The pencil had bat wings. His cutie mark appeared one day after spending an all nighter drawing.

“Latenight? Don’t tell me you started another page,” Hikari the dull yellow and fire red unicorn calls out.”

Latenight sighs and puts his pencil down. “Coming dear,”

The earth pony goes to lay down with the phoenix marked unicorn.

“Now you can finish those drawings in the morning,” Hikari playfully beeps Latenight on the nose.

“Yeaoooh,” The earth pony was interrupted by a yawn, “But I’m going to meet with Sweetie Talk at work tomorrow and want to get as many sketches done as I can.”

The pony falls asleep.

>

“Our children are in danger of the Zebra menace. Arming them will keep them safe.” The simple black and white sign of a foal pointing a gun at a shocked Zebra said.

The sign was next to a pair of vending machines, one that dispenses soda and one that dispenses bullets.

The green and blond unicorn mare just bought a soft drink. It was the newest flavor of Sparkle-Cola 'Mellon'. It had a picture of a smiling slice of watermelon with deformed black seeds.

The mare had a speech bubble with a heart inside it as a cutie mark. She got it after doodling a funny comic strip that made another foal laugh.

“Sweetie Talk!” Latenight shouts waving his hoof. “I finished those sketches.”

“You’re late Latenight,” Sweetie Talk smirks.

“I had to finish this morning,” Latenight groaned, “Hikari made me go to bed.”

“Really?” Sweetie Talk gives a sly look.

“Not like that Sweetie,” The earth pony unzipped his saddle bag. The unicorn instinctively pulls up the pony’s sketch book.

Sweetie Talk smiles and laughs, “You did Daring Do’s expression better than I imagined.” The pony finshish looking through the rest of the folder. “The approvals came back down from the Ministry of Image we can start inking and coloring the next issue.”

“Nice,” Latenight smiles.

“We should head up to the editor’s office.”

>

“Image Code Authority
All Zebra or their allies must be depicted as evil,
All crime and illegal activity must be root caused by Zebra or their allies,
If an Equestrian is shown doing wrong or evil acts they must be shown to have been corrupted by a Zebra or their allies,
All Equestrian government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority,
All Zebra or their allies must be punished for their misdeeds,
All depictions of realistic genitalia of penis, vagina, utters and anus is forbidden,
As to not to imply genitalia that exist ponies must be depicted with thier tails cropped up exposing the buttocks,” This was on the sign hung up on the back wall of Brighthorn’s office.

He was a white unicorn with a black mane. Cutie mark, a horn with a yellow aurora around it.

“Good, good,” The pony smiles at the green unicorn and blue earth pony. 

There was a sudden knock at the door.

“Who is it?” Brighthorn speaks up.

“May I come in dear,” A regal sounding mare answers.

“Um-yes,” Brighthorn became flushed at the voice.

“Say what?” The voice answers.

“Come in,” Brighthorn spoke up.

Sweetie Talk stares off as Rarity herself walks into the room.

“Rarity? She never visits the IMW building,” Latenight notes.

Rarity stops at the two ponies and smiles. “You’re the ponies I’ve been looking for.”

“Really ma’am? Us,” Sweetie talk answers nervously.

“The comic division of this company has the comic rights to the Daring Do books and you’re the head writer for said comics?” Rarity asks.

“Yes ma’am,” Sweetie Talk shakes her head dumbly.

“You know the Twilight Velvet wing of the Princess Twilight Sparkle Grand Library and Museum is opening,” Rarity told the ponies, “I’m here to personally invite you all to the grand opening and that you’d be donating some your fine Daring Do graphic novels to the wing.”

“Yes ma’am,” Brighthorn nods his head.

“In addition I’m personally inviting you two and your companions to the opening,” Rarity told Sweetie Talk and Latenight. “It would be a glorious opportunity for a photo opt with Twilight Velvet who will be appearing.”

“Twilight Velvet will be there,” Latenight wags his tail.

“I don’t think my husband would make it though,” Sweetie Talk remarks.

“Come on Sweetie doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself,” Latenight smirks.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Talk sighs.

>

A flash of light blinds the green unicorn. She had been shaking Twilight Velvet’s hoof. Latenight and Hikari stood behind Sweetie Talk. All the ponies wore nice party attire.

Twilight Velvet removed her hoof. The mare had seemed cold and distant. Like a pony just going through the motions.

“You two having a good time?” A bright maroon mare walks up to Latenight and Hikari holding a check board with her magic. She had an indigo mane with a white streak. A moon slit with a magic star in its center was her cutie mark.

“Um we are fine,” Latenight answers nervously feeling a little out of his element. Hikari was at his side drinking a glass of alcoholic punch out of a shallow and thin glass.

“You’re Moonlight Sliver correct?” Hikari remarks, “You are Twilight Sparkle's daughter. Why are you helping party goers. Don’t you personally run the Ministry of Magic? And at such a young age too.”

“Yeah, But this building is a pet project of mine,” Moonlight smiles back, “My mother deserves to be honored. That and I never been a hooves off kind of pony.”

“From what I remembered of your mother when she lived in Ponyville that’s a lot like her,” Hikari notes.

Moonlight Sliver blushes, “Thank you.”

The maroon mare sees her grandmother hitting the punch bar a little hard.

“Velvet, Please don’t make a spectacle,” The young mare whispers to the older one.

“Did I do something to offend you?” Sweetie Talk remarks to the white mare.

“No, Sorry if I made you think that,” Twilight Velvet apologized.

“Was it that mother couldn’t make it,” Moonlight Sliver asks.

“No,” Twilight Velvet Sighs, “I know she’s busy.”

“That's nonsense,” Sweetie Talk snaps, “Your granddaughter is just as busy.” The green unicorn waves to Rarity in the crowd behind her. “And she seems to make it to all the events as well.”

“Twilight has a hard enough time making time for her friends much less me,” Twilight Velvet exclaims. “Sliver, she only sees you because you work with her.”

“What ever,” Moonlight Sliver turns and stomps off.

Twilight Velvet stares at a bunch of books of her's on the nearby shelves. “They are lies they are all lies, preserved by magic so that future generations can be tainted.”

“What?” Sweetie Talk reacts.

“My most prized and favored works aren’t even here,” Twilight Velvet says somberly. “She had them all changed.” The mare glances over at Rarity

“Rarity?” Sweetie Talk questions.

“I need some air,” Twilight Velvet was pretty red faced by now. Sweetie Talk didn’t want to leave the mare alone so she fallows the mare to the study gardens.

“Sweetie! Velvet!” Latenight shouts.

Twilight Velvet lies on a concrete bench as she allowed her head to clear in the fresh air.

“I’m sorry about this,” She says to Sweetie Talk, “You remember what it was like to be a writer before the world changed.”

“I’m just happy to be getting a pay check to be honest,” Sweetie Talk replied, “In the end I think Daring Do means more to you than me.”

“I'm frustrated having the Ministry of Image tell me what I can and cannot write,” Twilight Velvet spat, “Change and burn my old books. I know Moonlight Sliver means well but to celebrate them at this moment in time is insulting. Ministry of Image is suppose to project a certain image and I don’t like what I see.”

“Foooooreveeeeeeer!” A spritebot sounded off.”

“Did that thing talk?” Latenight points out, “I heard rumors but I never heard them speak.”

“I think it’s saying I’m saying too much,” Twilight Velvet smirks, “Not like they could do anything to me. Only butcher my work more.”

“Velvet,” Moonlight Sliver walks out from the shadows, “You think mother would allow Rarity to just do what she did?”

“She could have stopped her,” Twilight Velvet snaps.

Moonlight Sliver checks to see if anypony was around.

“What are you doing?” Twilight Velvet asks.

With a spark from her horn the young mare disables the spritebot. Then she closes her eyes and activates her magic causing her horn to glow.

First there was one green twinkle then there was another and another.

“Fireflies?” Latenight remarks as he turns around to allow him to fallow the many lights appearing around them.

The green lights whirled around the ponies. Everything whooshed and suddenly the lights dissipated. The ponies found themselves in a dark room.

“Was that a teleportation spell?” Sweetie Talk asks, “No transport spell, It's basically alchemy activated with magic. I made it from papa Spike's dragon ash. I dumped half the batch in the Study Gardens and the other half here. Because of that I can only transport in those preset locations. But pretty much any unicorn can use it.”

“Even a pony like me with very little magic can use it?” Sweetie Talk points out.

“In theory yes,” With a wave of her horn Moonlight Sliver lights up the room.

“Books!” Twilight Velvet shouts in wonder as she takes a book off of one of the many many shelves, “This addition came out before the Ministry of Image probate.” She takes another book, “This one too.”

“Twilight Sparkle set up many of these special hidden libraries,” Moonlight Sliver floats over a book to her grandmother. “This one is under your wing of my mother’s Library.”

Twilight Velvet’s eyes light up. “My first Daring Do book!” The mare cries, “The Ministry of Image banned it.”

“I haven’t seen some of these books in years,” Sweetie Talk remarks.

“I would love to read this one,” Latenight takes a blue book off the shelf.

“I have a magic stamp that allows you to check out books. It will send the books back here after a set time,” Moonlight Sliver explains.

“Self returning books neat,” Sweetie Talk smirks.

“Thanks Moonlight,” Twilight Velvet told her granddaughter.

>

Latenight tossed and turned in bed.

“Dear? What’s the matter?” Hikari sits up and asks.

“I’m just having one of my sleepless nights,” Latenight slides out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Hikari asks.

“I need a walk,” Latenight gives the unicorn a kiss before leaving.

The pony ran down the street. As he ran he came across a news stand open late.

“You're open late,” Latenight remarks to the stand owner a cream colored pony with an anaglyph cutie mark.

“There ain’t no rest for the wicked,” The owner smirks.

Latenight takes a few steps closer to the news stand owner. He speaks in hushed tones. “You still know how to get a hold of that underground printer?”

___
“For some of us, it is hard to remember how important our freedom of speech is. I know for a fact what evils can happen when a good pony says nothing. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
___

Ginger Roots extinguished her horn. She takes a sigh of relief. The past viewing spell took a lot out of the pony.

At the pony’s hooves was an open comic book. The smiling faces of Latenight and Sweetie Talk looked back at her.

In order to use her past viewing spell she would need to have seen a pony’s face or cutie mark, know their name and have something they have touched. The comic book gave her all she needed.

To decompress Ginger Roots activates the viewing orb with Twilight Sparkle again.

“Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle, “If you are listening to this thing then I fear the worst has happened to my people. If you were unlucky enough to not get into a Stable then fear not. Within the wildlands of Equestria there is a peaceful land that the Zebra shouldn’t know about. Whatever ponies can should voyage there and found a new society. This orb contains the map to this land. Please write it down and leave this orb behind for others to find their way.”

Ginger Roots walks away with the orb still running.

Twilight stops talking and looks through the orb cautiously. “That stupid cunt left the orb on again,” She complains as she turns off her side of the orb with her horn magic.
> Fo:E:SP/Prophet Bless/I Am Not Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The colt screams in horror as the ax comes down on his mother. Her neck and shoulder separates with a loud crack.

There was a gun shot, then another and another. Each shot made a raider’s blood splatter with every hit. Soon they were all dead leaving the blood covered foal screaming.

A pony walks through the death. The pony had a devilish smile on his lips and the cutie mark of a silver hemp leaf.

The foal looks up at the pony. At first he was afraid but something in the buck’s eyes calmed the foal down. In his fear the foal felt love.

>

Megan could smell the scent of corps in the air as she walked up to the farming outpost. Spiky leafed plants with a silvery sheen were growing around her.

A stray foal wonders out of the field. The pink and yellow thing turns and smiles at the woman.

“Hello mister,” The foal beamed.

Megan smiles back at the filly. She kneels down to the foal and pats the small thing on the head. “I’m a girl dearie.”

An adult mare walks out of the field. She quickly pulls the child away from the large creature.

“Sweetie go back to work in the field,” The orange and green mare with the yellow eyes told the filly. She was a unicorn with a pink bottle cutie mark. The mare was small, kind of made Megan think of Littlepip.

“Nice outpost you have here, what are you growing?” Megan asks.

“Hemp, And you are?” The pony replied.

“Megan Williams,” The woman answered.

“Vase Djinn,” The unicorn replied.

“Interesting name even for a pony,” Megan remarks.

“Yours is okay for a not pony,” Vase Djinn said dryly.

“I’m a merc from the mid countries,” Megan answers.

“Mid countries,” Vase Djinn took a moment to think, “Oh, the land of the biped races.”

“I heard stories of the light bringer in this area,” Megan points out. “I was hoping that if she is needed here then a good hired gun is needed as well.”

“She does protect the outposts and towns in this area,” Vase Djinn answered.

Megan raised an eye brow. “Really?” She replies with a smirk. “I have also heard she turned herself into a goddess that controls the weather.”

“Maybe both stories are true,” Vase Djinn shrugs, “It’s been explained to me by travelers. But I ‘am a simple pony and never understood what they are talking about. As for needing a hired gun our boss, Prophet Bless is the gun around here. He acts as the county’s law pony.”

“Can I see this Prophet Bless?” Megan asks.

“He’s staying at the blue house,” Vase Djinn points out. “I’ll show you.”

Vase Djinn takes Megan down the road and across the field. Megan looks out at the crop. She noticed mostly children and some mares were working the field. She saw this before. Bucks tend to die in the wasteland before mares. Mares before children. She’ll have to make sure that the mares aren’t being taken advantage of by their ‘boss’.

Vase Djinn knocks on the blue house’s door.

“Who is it?” A buck’s voice answers.

“Vase Djinn,” The orange unicorn calls back, “I have a guest.”

Prophet Bless didn’t react to the biped walking into the room. Megan on the other hand was surprised to see a pegasus in charge.

“You’re wondering how long I’ve been in charge of this farm?” Prophet Bless smiles.

“This nation has been united for a while but a pegasus in charge of a place like this is still odd?” Megan shakes her head. “But it’s none of my business.”

Megan extends her hand. “I’m Megan Williams.”

Prophet Bless replied with his hoof and she shook it. “Looking for a merc job and I was told you’d be the one to talk about that.”

Prophet Bless eyes the creature up and down. “You look scrawny for your size.”

“I’m quick and deadly,” Megan smirks.

“Well you’d maybe worth checking out,” Prophet Bless nods his head. “How do you feel about doing farm work?”

“Farm work?” Megan asks.

“My dear, it maybe a deadly world, but we can’t spend all our time killing?” The pony answers.

“Yes, I understand, I’m willing to do manual labor if it means using my skills later on,” Megan told the pony.
“I make my rounds around the county next week you will travel with me,” Prophet Bless orders.

“Yes sir,” Megan bows.

“I trust you can make arrangements at the inn,” Vase Djinn told Megan.

Megan nods her head.

Vase Djinn watches the woman walk down the road from the doorway. As soon as she was out of ear shot the unicorn turns to Prophet Bless.

“She knows,” The mare tells the buck.

“Knows what,” Prophet Bless said teasingly as he circle the mare.

“About us,” Vase Djinn snaps, “Don’t play these games.”

“Am I making you nervous?” Prophet Bless purred as he moves in for a kiss.

The two ponies locked lips.

>

“Do it again Megan!”

“Yeah do it again!”

“Cat’s Cradle Megan!”

Megan smiles at the foals as she played with the string inbetween her fingers. It was like a magic trick to the children.

She had been in the outpost for three days. Megan tried her best to work out in the fields. But the younger foals found her interesting. Soon somehow she found herself spending half the time helping Gold Bell take care of them.

Suddenly one of the older foals ran out of the field. He was crying, “Gold Bell! Megan! Scarecrow!”

Gold Bell ran for Prophet Bless. Megan took the time to run for her guns and mask.

“Prophet, they killed her, they killed her!” The foals cries as the steel gray buck ran up.

“It will be okay children,” The buck pats the foals on the head.

They look into his eyes and the foals calmed down.

“You have away with kids,” Megan gives Prophet Bless a smile.

“Young respects the strong,” The pony replied.

The woman and the buck ran through the hemp field. A mare was crucified up upon a set of thick tree limbs.

“I’m sensing nothing on my EFS,” Megan removes her mask and rubs her eyes.

“This has happened before,” Prophet Bless told the woman. “This one must have happened last night. You're a tall thing, think you can help me move the body?”

Megan nods her head and helped the buck remove the pony.

“So this happened before?” Megan asks.

“Yes, I’m going to need you tonight.” Prophet Bless answers.

(Is he being vague with me?) Megan snaps in her head.

Once the corpse was gone the workers went back to the field. Megan went to work in the field to ask about the attacks.

“So those corpses like that happen often then?” Megan asks a blue mare by the name of Cinder Winds. The mare had a shroud covering her flank.

“Some kind of creature hunts and kills a pony down now and again. It is said to have glowing green eyes.” Cinder Winds told her.

“Anything specifically you can tell me?” Megan asks, “This isn’t some beast hunting for food.”

Cinder Winds thinks for a moment. “It likes to kill older ponies like my age. Prefer bucks over mares but never kills a child. You would think it would. Because of that I was thinking about leaving.”

“What are you two talking about?” Vase Djinn emerged from the hemp bushes.

“Oh just trying to find out what I’m dealing with,” Megan shrugs.

“Prophet wants to talk to you,” Vase Djinn glares at the woman.

“Okay, let me finish this up and I’ll be there in a moment,” Megan answers the pony.

“Very well,” The mare slinks away.

“Prophet Bless flirts with the mares does he not?” Megan asks getting around to a subject she had been meaning to since she got to the farm.

“It’s complicated,” Cinder Winds hesitates, “True he got me to lift my tail for him.” The pony glances at her shrouded flank. “In a manner of speaking. The buck has a power. He can make you fall in love with him but that power also makes you fear him.”

“I get the impression that Vase Djinn is his partner though,” Megan points out, “I mean he seems to favor her.”

“Now that I think of it,” The mare replied, “They came into the area as traveling companions. Hard to believe it’s only been two or three years now.”

“And became the governor of this area in such a short time?” Megan asks.

“The last governor was a freak,” Cinder Winds said with disdain. “The NCR doesn’t have much power over the radiation borderlands. So he was free to do what he wants. The beast allowed the raiders and bandits to roam. He bought me to be a house servant. Removed mine and all the servant mare’s tails so to quote, ‘They can’t hide those pretty little pussies,’.”

“That sounds awful,” Megan looks at the ponies flank. “I had my suspicions, Not the first time a buck mutilates a mare in such away.”

“It’s not that bad as some of the other things he had done to the others,” The mare pulls on the shroud covering her flank. “At least I have ways to keep my modesty. Although this thing is a pain to pull out of the way if I need to use the toilet. Also not as good at stopping the flies from biting me as my tail would have been.” 

When she finished, Megan made her way to the blue house. When she got there she found Prophet Bless and Gold Bell making out on the shady side of the house.

“Excuse me sir,” Megan spoke up.

Prophet Bless and Gold Bell stopped what they were doing at looked at the woman. The ponies give one last kiss before Gold Bell walks off with her tail up.

Megan was blushing and feeling awkward.

“I want you to get your battle barding on,” Prophet Bless orders, “There is some kind of airship wreckage A few miles out that I think the creature maybe hiding at.”

>

“You know you’re a little slower than a pony when you walk,” Prophet Bless remarks.

“Up set about our time?” Megan said dryly.

“Oh, no if I really cared about time I would have flown there,” Prophet Bless smirks, “I want to know you, This is a chance for us to bond.”

The tone in the bucks voice made the woman nervous. She slowly moved her hand closer to her holster.

“Now what the fuck do you think you are doing?” The buck caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Your…” Megan wasn’t sure what to say.

“Scared dearie?” Prophet Bless chimed.

“I…feel like you want to eat me,” Megan gulps.

“Perhaps I ‘am,” Prophet Bless stretches his neck to try to look the woman in the eye. She turns and steps away. The buck shrugged and the two of them walked in silence.

The sun was setting by the time they reached the air craft. The couple camped at the top of a hill. Megan was looking at the air craft through her Enclave mask to get a closer look.

Sun bleached bones of dead ponies littered the landscape.

Megan removes the mask and rubs her eyes.

“You can't use that thing for long periods of time or something?” Prophet Bless remarks.

“It was made for pony eyes,” Megan replied.

“There looks to have been a battle down there,” Megan remarks.

“That was me,” Prophet Bless boasts.

Megan gives the buck a suspicious look. (This isn’t good he took me to his killing grounds.)

The woman sees her breath on the air. “I know we are staking out a beast but how do you feel about a fire? From what I heard this monster is ballsy so maybe the flames might attract it.”

Prophet Bless pauses to contemplate the idea. “I suppose we could try that later. You can start with gathering firewood.”

Megan walks over to a nearby dead tree. She starts picking up broken limbs and branches. A sound makes her drop the pile of branches. Megan twirls around to see Prophet Bless behind her.

“I thought you were watching the air craft,” Megan was afraid to reach for her gun. Her heart told her that the buck would win in a fight.

“Your jumpy you know that,” Prophet Bless smirks and turns to walk away.

Megan puts the wood in a circle. They waited half the night before lighting the fire.

“Okay, Like we said, The thing we are hunting is smart and would most likely seek us out,” Megan remarks warming her hands on the fire.

“If it doesn’t have a gun,” Prophet Bless points out.

“Well at least I have this thing,” Megan puts on her mask to check her EFS. Green flashes hit her eyes causing the woman to pull her mask away. When Megan’s eyes cleared she was looking at Prophet Bless eye to eye.

The woman’s head swooned. Prophet Bless had to hold her up to stop her from falling over.

“Are you okay sweetie?” Prophet Bless asks.

“I don’t know,” A cool happy fussy feeling was going through Megan’s body. 

In the darkness they heard growling. The glint of green eyes pierce the darkness. Prophet Bless fires at the thing and the lights went out.

“Cascade!” Megan shouts.

“Cascade?” Prophet Bless raised an eye.

Megan shakes her head clear. “Sorry, I’m feeling a little ill, that thing reminds me of a foal that lives in Tenpony.”

“Tenpony?” Prophet Bless reacts.

“You think that thing is still out there?” Megan asks.

“Well we would have to search the area in the morning,” Prophet Bless tells her. "See if we can find a body or blood."

“I’m not feeling well,” Megan lies down on the ground next to the fire.

As she was drifting off, Megan could feel Prophet Bless’s body lay next to her’s. His wing covers her body.

The sun awakes her. She was greeted with Prophet Bless’s emerald eyes. They made her feel funny again.

The two beings locked lips. Prophet Bless’s hoof slides down the woman’s stomach. In a flash Megan stabs the buck in the shoulder with her knife.

Prophet Bless shrieks as Megan kicks him away. The woman gets to her feet making a fighting stance.

“Think I can be fooled by magical manipulation,” Megan snaps, “Although I don’t know what a freak like you was doing barking up my tree.”

“Fear,” Prophet Bless answers.

“What?” Megan takes a step back away from the pony.

“It makes you want to love,” Prophet Bless continues, “Tell me Megan, when the nightmares becomes too much in the middle of the night who do you want to hug?”

Faces of people Megan cared about popped in her head and she gulps. “That doesn’t explain why you want to jump me!”

“When you fuck somepony for the first time do you feel fear? Do you feel love?” Prophet Bless has taken on a hypnotic tone in his voice. “Fear of vulnerability, love for the one who makes you vulnerable. I feed off of that.”

“You’re a changeling,” Megan snaps.

“Guilty, what are you going to do?” Prophet Bless asks, “This arrangement works well. I find a someone like you. I protect them, They feel fear and love me. I eat that power. It’s my nature and hurts no one.”

“Really? Sounds like an abusive relationship to me,” Megan points out.

“You still have the will to say ‘no’,” Prophet Bless shrugs, “As much as you want, I’m free to push as much as I want.”

Megan dodges for her gun. She makes it but was disappointed to find the bullets were gone.

“Do you think I was that stupid,” Prophet Bless smirks.

“You killed those mares!” Megan snaps.

Prophet Bless turns away from Megan. “No I didn’t.”

“Why should I believe you? You’re a deceptive beast,” Megan points out.

“Only to serve my nature,” Prophet Bless shrugs, “What purpose does killing my food serve me?”

“Makes more fear,” Megan smirks.

“True, but still,” Prophet Bless ponders the idea. "I'm creepy, not evil."

“You know what that thing is out there don’t you,” Megan snaps, “Other wise you would have had pursued my reaction last night a little deeper. If I was you I would have been wondering who Cascade was and just what really brought me here.”

“I have my suspicions,” Prophet Bless answers, “You know how women can be.”

“Vase Djinn,” Megan replied.

“She’s that Littlepip you are looking for,” Prophet Bless tells Megan, “People love Littlepip, She likes taking that love. She sees it as her right after all in another life time she was Littlepip.”

Megan glances at the bones. “Those bones are a few years old, I’m guessing you didn’t appear on the scene until then. Does the name Silent Ponyville mean anything?”

A look of shock goes on Prophet Bless’s face. “What do you call us?”

“Paradox Ponies,” Megan answers, “Ponies that lived in the past but now exist in the present.”

“I see,” Prophet Bless nods his head. As he looks at Megan his eyes widen. “Vase no!”

Megan turns around to see a club come down on her head.
___
“Who are prophets? The ponies who lead us, the ponies that inspire us. Those who give us hope in the dark fearful nights. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> Original/Diamond Dog History/Journey Through the Mountain- Prologue: The Diamond King Incursion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Three hellhounds sat around a fire roasting a deer carcass. The ponies of the party had their own campfire several meters away not wanting be near the pony shaped corpse.

The deer when it was captured screamed and begged for its life. Due to their magic the ponies could hear its words but the hellhounds couldn’t.

There were three ponies that were added to the expedition as they left Ponyville.

Fire Fight A strongly build earth buck with a yellow coat and flame main. His cutie mark was of a red hot shield with suppressed flames below it. Fire Fight was a former citizen of the Republic and an expert on their culture.

Zeus's Kiss a Steel Ranger scribe, He has a white coat and blonde mane his cutie mark was of a chunk of fulgurite glass. The pony is a powerful magic user and a historian like Ginger Roots and acts as the groups cleric healer.

The third was a light brown earth mare with a black mane tied into a pair of pig tails, Her cutie mark lily pads. Her name was Lilyfoot an expert tracker, thief and monster hunter.

The final pony was a blue tinged white pegasus with a black mane. He had a tribal eye cutie mark. His name was Flashpoint, an Enclave communications expert. He carried a satellite radio pack so that the group could remain in contact with the NCR command.

The griffons had to find their own food out in the wild. Luckily for them there were some large mutie rats that smelt the deer meat and explored out the entrance of the mine.

Melissa hacks at a mutant rat with a machete. “If these rats are all that we are going to run into I think we can set out into the mine in the morning?”

“Yeah, But I'm a little worried we would run into a cave troll in there.” Deseret remarks.

Melissa shutters, “Remember that mutie one we had to take down under the Philadelphia tunnels?”

“Hopefully if one is here it would be a little more civil,” Deseret mumbles.

The mine entrance had two statues of diamond dogs. The words were still visible. One said ‘Ziggy’ the other ‘Stardust’.

Ginger Roots was trying to use her past viewing magic on the dog statues. After a few moments Melissa walks up to her.

“Any luck with doing whatever it is you are doing?” The honey griffon asks.

“A little,” Ginger Roots sighs. “These Ziggy and Stardust was the loyal followers of the Master who found this mine."

Ginger Roots walks over to the hellhounds. “Excuse me, Lassie is it? What do you know about these mines?”

The hellhound gives the pony a glare.

“Every time I ask one of you I get that glare,” Ginger Roots gives a look back.

“Lassie why don’t you tell her,” Vaspa smirks.

The griffon’s presence makes the other two hellhound snicker at Lassie. The creatures were named Rin Tin and Hooch.

“Okay, Ever heard of the Diamond King Incursion?” Lassie asks.

“It was a conflict Equestria had been in. It started before the Great War with the Zebra and finished before the war escalated,” Ginger Roots answers, “The reason ponies had control over the Splendid Valley area.”

The hellhounds spat on the ground.

Lassie speaks up, “You ponies would say he first appeared in Canterlot. With is crystal orb of power the Diamond King king of the diamond dogs put Celestia under his mind control. He had taken power for quite some time before any of you ponies could figure out his ruse.”

“Twilight Sparkle and Harmony bearers freed Celestia driving the Diamond King away.” Ginger Roots finished.

“Yes,” Lassie nods her head. “Knowing he couldn’t fight the powers of the mares the Diamond King seeked out help. The lord of diamond dogs commissioned a creature of great power to forge machines of metal in the form of the element bearers. A gnome with a magic hammer that could build anything.”

“I thought he was a dwarf?” Hooch adds.

“He had to be something different, like a demigod,” Rin Tin chimes in.

“I like dwarves,” Ginger Roots smiles.

“As the machines fought the element bearers, The Diamond King enslaves a unicorn town near the valley.” Lassie continues.

“That’s not nice,” Ginger Roots points out.

“Well things don’t work out for him,” Lassie adds, “To the King’s dismay he had to teach the unicorns gem finding magic.”

“I would think very few unicorns could learn that,” Ginger Roots remarks making her horn glow.

Lassie starts up again. “Well in control of the town the Diamond King falls in love with a unicorn mare of the name of Wolf Vein.”

“Eww,” Vaspa squirms.

“Like you should talk,” Melissa mocked.

“To protect her husband and daughter who the Diamond King had locked away. Wolf Vein agreed to marry him.” Lassie told them, “In return she could never see nore hear from them again. But unbeknownst to Wolf Vein the Diamond King had them killed. Only the daughter didn’t die.”

“Her name was Squirrelpuff the wolf hunter if I remember right,” Ginger Roots notes.”

Lassie continues, “Mean while the Diamond King finds out that the mare he took as his wife was pregnant. To make the child his own the King used his magic to reach into Wolf Vein’s womb. He removed the unborn’s eyes. Destroyed one, removed one of his own eyes and stuck the unborn eye in his empty socket. Then put his eye into the unborn’s socket. When the foal was born it was a hybrid of a diamond dog and a unicorn pony.”

“That was one way of getting it done,” Melissa snickered. 

“If I remember right over time Wolf Vein and her daughter Nightshade became powerful magic users who subverted the Diamond King,” Ginger Roots adds. “It didn’t stop the war since the King turned his former wife into an evil and power hungry being. Nightshade wasn’t that better.”

“Many dogs didn’t want to fallow a pony and disserted,” Lassie adds, “It allowed Squirrelpuff to confront her mother and sister. She killed Wolf Vein and after a long battle Nightshade kills Squirrelpuff. Soon after Equestria moved in and forced our ancestors out. The diamond dogs that disserted the tribe moved back into Splendid Valley just before the balefire bombs fell.”

“And the dogs that was drove away?” Ginger Roots asked.

Lassie looks at the old mine. “There are rumors, They fallowed Nightshade to this place.”

“Wonderful.” Ginger cheers, “The possibility of running into an untainted tribe of diamond dogs, Could you imagine how important that is.”

“All I know, the pack leader wants to know how inhabitable the mine is,” Lassie shrugged.

Back at the mouth of the mine Deseret trips over a clump of vines. The plant rips away revealing some kind of pony effigy made from wood, stone and bones tied to gether.

“Roots!” Deseret shouts,

The ginger pony runs over to the griffon.

“What do you make of this?” Deseret asks.

“Oh, my goddess,” Ginger Roots looks at the fake pony scanning it with her horn.

“Hello,”

___
“Remember just because history is written by the victors, doesn’t mean the forgotten events can’t return to bite you. Just because there are things we don’t like does not mean we take the eraser to it. We might learn from them. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out”
> Fo:E:SP/Eye Maggots/Buzzing Bugs and Bubble Wrap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   A griffon wonders through the sun baked healing wasteland desert. The thing was a ghoul but it looked fresher than normal ghouls. The griffon’s molting feathers were stained red with blood. He slowly approached a griffon settlement in the distance.

A young honey colored griffon flies down to the bloody ghoul griffon.

“Dad? That you?” She asks the foot dragging ghoul.

“Melissa,” The ghoul turns to the griffon. She gasps covering her beak as the maggots roll out from his empty voids for eyes.

“Melissa,” Repeats the ghoul.

Melissa drops tears as she pulls out her gun from its holster. The ghoul griffon looks her in the eyes, At least she thinks he did. She thinks she feels there soul connect. She thinks he tells her its okay to shoot.

When they found the fem griffon she was sobbing over the corpse. Half the ghoul’s skull was shot away. Maggots were crawling out the hole in the skull. Some of them had went dry and turned brown.

“Melissa, honey you need to leave him,” One of the griffons tries to lead her away from the body of her dead father.

“Don’t touch me!” The honey griffon flinches away.

“Melissa please,” The griffon begs.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” Melissa snaps.

Deseret flies down to the commotion.

“Des, he was dead, then I killed him,” Melissa cries into the griffon’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, dear,” Deseret tells her sister. She turns to one of the other griffons. “Have you heard from anyone you sent to check on the tower workers?”

“No sir, your father is the only one who seemed to have come out of there in the last three days.” A griffon replied, “We are sending another team with weapons this time to check again.”

“Very well, I’ll take Melissa home in the mean time,” Deseret leads her sobbing sister away.

Back at the dead body, one of the brown maggots split open. A wasp hatches out drying in the sunlight.

>

Melissa laid curled up in her bed. The lights were of and she could hear her older sisters argue outside of her room.

“What the fuck happen? I mean walking? How did papa turn into a ghoul,” Vespa snaps, “I don’t believe her, but I can’t believe she’d just kill dad like that too.”

“Well it might have been possible before the gardens went off. Most ghouls were created when the bombs fell,” Deseret points out, “But that was rare and you’d have to spend quite a lot of time at the radiated bomb sights. Now it’s those bugs that bother me. How did they get into his body.”

“Don’t tell her I said this but I’m worried for Melissa,” Vespa adds, “First mother abandoned us, she didn’t handle that well. Who knows what she’ll do after finishing dad off.”

“Yes, we should have someone check up on her if she tries something again,” Deseret agrees.

Melissa puts her head in her pillow.

A hard knocking at her door awakes the griffon. The room was darker, it must be night. It was noon when she went to her room, long enough time had passed to allow her bladder to become painfully full.

When she opened the door, Melissa was shocked to find a strange earth pony bumping around in her house. The griffon picks up a baseball bat.

“What the fuck are you doing here,” She shouts raising the bat.

The pony looks at her with dead eyes.”This…isn’t my home is it?”

Realizing the pony was more confused then dangerous Melissa lowers her bat. “No sir it isn’t.” She says in a kind tone.”

“My brain hurts,” The pony cries, “Bugs.”

“Bugs?” Melissa reacted surprised.

Out of the corner of her eye the griffon could see a strangely glowing insect. It glowed like balefire.

Vespa and Deseret burst into the room.

“Melissa you okay?” Deseret demands.

“Yes,” Melissa replied with a laugh in her voice. She turns back to the window to see the flying bug was gone.

“I see we got a visitor,” Vespa points at the confused pony. “Griffons and ponies been doing this all across town. It’s almost like they have been turned into ghouls.”

“Like papa,” Melissa points out, "You think he passed this illness to the town?"

“Zombie plagues are a myth,” Deseret snaps, “Hurtful stereotypes of ghouls.”

“Open your eye sister,” Vespa shouts, “Mr. Eddie here is a deadhead.”

Vespa waves the ghoul pony off the ground.

“Bubble wrap,” The pony drooled

“I rest my case.” Vespa smirks.

“We should lock him up to keep him safe and go ask the mayor what we should do,” Deseret suggests.

“Not in my room,” Vespa interjects, “Ghouls leak everything, I’m not cleaning up whatever decides to slide out of his fun bits.”

Vespa and Deseret looks at Melissa.

“I hate you fucking bitches,” The honey griffon pouts.

>

They found the mayor unconscious in his office. A welt was on his neck with a little red bead of blood. Melissa shakes the griffon. He starts to stir, but Melissa gives her sisters a worried look and shows them a claw full of feathers.

“He’s molting like a ghoul,” Vespa notes in a hushed tone.

“What happened?” Mayor Ringo holds his head, “Bugs, it feels like bugs.”

“Mr. Ringo are you okay?” Deseret asks.

“Something asked me, when buzz buzz,” Mayor Ringo answers.

“Is he going zombie like the others?” Vespa asks.

“I never heard of ghouls losing their minds so fast,” Deseret notes.

“Ghoul? Does that explain the lights?” Mayor Ringo looks at his claws.

“Buzz buzz, you think he may be talking about in insect?” Melissa points out, “The other guy talked about bugs. And I saw this strange one. It looked like it had balefire inside.”

“That pony also talked of bubble wrap.” Vespa remarks as she looks under the mayor’s desk. She sees a large twitching dying bug with a fading green glow. “Well what do you know?”

The dark griffon carefully taps the bug out from under the desk with her claw. As she was just bringing it out into the open for everyone to see, the wasp flinches and nails the griffon in her wrist with its stinger.

“Fuck!” Vespa stomps down on the bug and holds her wrist.

“Veppie,” Deseret snaps.

“What, the fucking thing bit me,” Vespa shakes her claw to get the feeling back. “Luckily I think it used all its venom on the good mayor here.”

“That is the eye killer,” Mayor Ringo points out.

“The one I seen was very much alive and was glowing brighter,” Melissa tells her sisters.

“That does look like balefire,” Deseret notes.

“You mean like the bombs,” Vespa gives a nervous look at her talon. “You don’t think they use that as venom?”

“That would explain the ghouls,” Melissa adds, “Balefire radiation makes ghouls.”

“But where does the balefire come from?” Deseret points out, “I don’t think they suck it from the air around them not since the Gardens went off. They might make it?”

“The obvious question is why,” Melissa tells Deseret, “Why turn people into ghouls? Why was that one dying?”

“Umm, bees, small bees die after stinging,” Deseret says after some thought. “But in those cases the stingers are lost so it’s basically them bleeding to death.”

“That one had its stinger,” Vespa snaps.

“Ho god no,” Melissa gasps, “Dad he had maggots crawling all over him. Normally maggots don’t attack ghouls so-“

“They were most likely using ghouls as a way of incubation,” Deseret finishes.

“What now?” Melissa asks.

“We leave town,” Deseret answers, “Warn people about this plague.”

The griffons start to walk away when they heard a gun click.

“Where the fuck are you taking my daughter!” Mayor Ringo snaps as he points his revolver at the griffons.

“I think he's talking about you,” Vespa teases Melissa.

“Why do I have to be the cute one,” Melissa rolls her eyes.

“Girls,” Deseret chimes.

The griffons turn around all three of them firing on the ghoul griffon. He drops his gun to the floor. Then he drops to the floor.

The griffons step out of the building. Buzzing grabs their attention. A wasp was flying over head. They spotted the thing. Vespa grabs a board and smashes the insect.

“Okay, I think we can get in contact from the weather tower,” Deseret tells them as she takes to the air.

A blood incrusted griffon tackle Deseret out of the air. They fall in a nearby alley smashing into some wooden pallets. The ghoul griffon was on top of her. Tiny maggots were already slowly dripping from its eyes. The creature gives a screeching hiss.

A cross the alley stood a ghoul unicorn. In a spat of insane rage it growls and smashes a wooden crate against the wall with its magic.

One of the Featherborn sisters takes out the griffon ghoul. The other takes out the unicorn once the aim was clear.

Deseret rolls over holding her rump. A squashed wasp was under her.

“Deseret you been stung,” Melissa gasped.

“You don’t think that thing put some eggs in you?” Vespa asks.

Deseret winced in pain. “Check their necks!”

“What?” Vespa reacts.

“Check the fucking necks for marks!” Deseret gasps holding her chest.

“The pony has a mark on his neck,” Melissa calls out.

“Your date has one too,” Vespa checks the dead ghoul griffon.

“Good, shows modus operandi,” Deseret sighs, “They need to inject eggs in the neck. But I think I should take some rataway.”

“The clinic isn’t that far,” Melissa tells them.

They turned the corner. The clinic was in sight but there where hundreds of wasps covering the building.

“No fucking way,” Vespa snaps.

“Not all of those came from papa,” Melissa points out with an uncomfortable tone.

“We need to get in there,” Deseret tells them.

Melissa walks out of a nearby apartment holding a red fire extinguisher.

“It’s old Stable-Tec but should still work hopefully,” She remarks.

The three griffon slowly creeped to the clinic.

“Okay fire that thing off,” Vespa tells Melissa as they got close.

“Okay,” Melissa presses the trigger.

There was a silent hiss his that slowly faded away.

“Fucking Stable-Tec,” Melissa taps the fire extinguisher on the ground.

Ka-Boom!

>

When Melissa woke up she was laying in a hospital bed. Her hands and side stung in pain. A purple alicorn injects her with Med X.

“Who? What?” Melissa could barely hear herself.

“I’m Ivory Venus, I run this clinic,” The alicorn might of said if Melissa could hear her.

Melissa turns her head to see Deseret and Vespa drinking rataway.

“The fire extinguisher had a massive failure. Lucky you’re only coming out with frost bite claws and a broken rib,” Deseret explains.

"Ear drums," Melissa adds.

“Sorry you had to go through such lengths to get help,” Ivory Venus tells the griffons, “If I knew I would have teleported out there sooner and got you.”

“It’s okay,” Deseret reassures the alicorn.

“I don’t know why those things are attracted to this building?” Ivory Venus remarks.

“Something about this place those balefire bugs like,” Vespa points out.

“Balefire?” Ivory Venus raised an eye.

“The wasps out there seem to generate or gather balefire radiation,” Deseret explains, “They use the balefire to turn their victims into ghouls and lay their eggs in people’s heads.”

“Well because of what we do here this building is the most radioactive in the town,” Ivory Venus then shrugs, “Heck I’m the most radioactive being in this city. I have magic that scrubs the radiation that I use now and again to keep things safe for everyone.”

“We need to get out of here to warn people,” Deseret tells her, “We are looking to go to the tower.”

“I think I can teleport there,” Ivory Venus answers.

“Then do it,” Deseret replied.

The alicorn closed her eyes. All three griffons were sucked into her teleportation field.

They found themselves standing in front of the tower. They could see some wasps crawling over the building.

“This is where papa works,” Melissa points out somberly looking up at the tower.

“We have a dead brahmin here,” Vespa checks a corpse on the ground, “I think it might be a ghoul, you can’t tell with brahmin. Aren’t they what happen when ghoul cows fuck or something?”

“Shit, this maybe point zero for this plague,” Deseret adds.

“If they like the radioactive alicorn should we be standing next to her?” Vespa asks.

“You should run away from me,” Ivory Venus tells them.

The griffons make for the tower as a swarm of wasps fly at the alicorn. She fends off the wasps with beams from her horn.

Deseret and Vespa takes to the air. Melissa tries but grabs her side. Vespa starts to turn back.

“Go!” Melissa shouts.

The honey griffon picks up a pipe and starts swinging at wasps that were coming at her. Ivory Venus runs to Melissa.

“I thought I told you to get away,” The alicorn snaps.

“I can’t let you fight by yourself,” Melissa smirks, “I owe these bastards for what they took from me.

“Down!” Ivory Venus shouts as she leaps onto the griffon.

Wasps swarm them. As the wasps coved the pony and griffon, loud pops started to be heard.

Deseret and Vespa kills the maggot eyed ghoul griffons and pony with gun fire. The two griffons sealed the room to keep anything else from coming in.

Deseret flips some switches on the control panel and speaks into a mic.

“This is Deseret Featherborn sending out an emergency broadcast to control command from Griffonville. Come in Tenpony.”

“This is Tenpony, we read you Griffonville. What’s the emergency?” A female voice answers.

“We have a very deadly plague outbreak, Plague is spread by wasp like insects and causes victims to turn into zombie ghouls.” Deseret replied.

“Could you repeat that?” Control answers.

“Zombie plague, repeat Zombies caused by a deadly insect.” Deseret tells them, “Requesting evac and quarantine.”

“Your quests have been heard please stand by for additional orders,” The voice replied.

Deseret sighs nervously.

Vespa walks to the wasp covered window. “I want to help them.

“You better not open that door,” Deseret snaps.

“Excuse me,” A different unassuming female voice answers, “You said something about insects?”

“Yes,” Deseret answers.

“How bad is it?” The voice asks.

“I’m not sure about survivors but it’s pretty bad,” Deseret told the voice.

“I can cause the area to rain, I don’t think insects like to move in the rain so that should stop the spread.” The voice replied.

“Who are you?” Deseret asks.

“Eh,” The voice laughs nervously, “Lit-Littlepip.”

“The Littlepip,” Vespa shouts, “That’s ritch, aren’t you suppose to be sleeping?"

“My body yes,” Littlepip answers, “My brain is in the network.”

They heard thunder and rain drops out side.

“Please don’t tell anyone you can talk to me like this,” Littlepip tells the griffons, “I want to live in peace.”

“Please don’t go,” Deseret speaks up.

“I can’t do more,” Littlepip answers.

“You can see everything right since you are connected to the network right?” Deseret asks.

“I see a lot,” Littlepip replied.

Then why didn’t you see this?” Deseret snaps.

“I can’t watch everything and I can't watch people, I know things are better now, but what can I do, I can’t watch ponies hurt one another and be helpless.” Littlepip answers, “I’m sorry if I knew. I could have done something about this.”

There was a knock at the door. Vespa opens allowing Ivory Venus and Melissa to enter into the room. They were covered in clumpy goo.

“Are you two stung?” Vespa asks.

“Male bees,” Melissa answers.

“They appear to be the ones attracted by radiation,” Ivory Venus flicks slime off her hoof.

“Weirdest thing they jerked off on us and died,” Melissa shrugged.

“So it’s like a normal date for you then,” Vespa snickered.

“Male bees and wasps die after mating,” Littlepip adds over the speakers.

“If male wasps go after the highest radioactive thing they can find and fuck themselves to death,” Deseret notes, “We may have a way of eradicating these things.”

“You are talking about a balefire powered bug zapper?” Littlepip remarks, “I know some people that can make that.”

Deseret whispers into the mic. “It was nice working with you, miss light bringer.”

“It was a pleasure, I just wish I could do more from here,” Littlepip sighs.

“Do you remember stories of a being called watcher?” Deseret asks.

“I’m familiar with him,” Deseret could hear the knowing more smirk in Littlepip’s voice.

“He would ask groups to go out and be heroes,” Deseret continues, “The way you are talking to us makes me think of him.”

There was a moment of silence from Littlepip. “I know someone that has been asking for help. If and when you feel up to it lets see what kind of heroes you are?”

___
“Each day we can step up a little more and make a deference. Even when you think you’d done enough there’s something more you can do. DJ Pon3 signing out.”
> IDW/Cave Troll/Undercity of the Dead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   “Hello, I am Ginger Roots,” The puffy haired pony introduced herself to the griffon sisters. She extends out her hoof. “I believe this is customary for your kind.”

“Why is the green here?” Deseret snaps to the control panel.

“Green, But I'm red? You people aren't color blind are you?” Ginger Roots questions, "I thought you people could see more colors because of your bird eyes. Like ultraviolet-"

“She means your fresh,” Melissa answers holding up a claw.

“Fresh is good no?” Ginger Roots adds.

“No, fresh is bad, it means you’re a stable pony.” Melissa tells her.

“I’ve been in the wasteland for a good few years mind you,” Ginger Roots said defiantly.”

“Yes, but have you experienced it?” Melissa asks, “Have you even had to eat meat to live?”

“The time when we need to do that is before my tenyear,” Ginger Roots points out.

“True,” Melissa shrugs.

“She’s a pony from Stable 2,” Littlepip answers over the speakers.

“Stable 2?” Vespa questions, “She's not a queer is she?”

“Just because I know her doesn’t mean she’s gay!” Littlepip snaps.

“We were in the same club,” Ginger Roots tells the griffon. “Our Overmare encourage hobbies to pass the time. That was the extent we knew each other. I wouldn’t have called us friends back then.”

“Did this club have teams? Were you on the same team?” Vespa mocked.

“Vespa stop it,” Deseret snaps.

“That's not why I’m here,” Ginger Roots tells them, “As I said, Littlepip and I hardly talked then. I interviewed her after moving out from Stable 2. Back in the Stable I was part of the news paper.” Ginger Roots then sighs. “I was disappointed to find access to Ponyville blocked off. Being the Stable’s historian too, I wanted to examine the history of my people who most of who came from Ponyville.”

“Miss Roots has been requesting to explore Ponyville but the government is in the mitts of negotiations with the Hellhounds.”

“Mean while I’ve been okayed to explore Fillydelphia, the underground that is.” Ginger Roots adds.

“The real issue is that the Gardens of Equestria didn’t completely erase the radiation from Fillydelphia. The underground remains contaminated.” Littlepip tells them.

“Why?” Deseret asks.

“I’ve heard rumors of rogue ghoul unicorns that used to work for Red Eye hiding down there.” Littlepip answers.

“I have always wondered why all the radioactive and taint mutated wild life survived after the Gardens went off?” Vespa points out.

“Velvet Remedy added a bypass spell that stopped the wave from affecting life forms,” Littlepip told her, “First she believed removing the radiation so completely from our bodies would kill many. Since ponies have been living with it and within a last hundred years some became mostly immune.”

“That’s why ponies are able to make babies without most of them becoming deformed,” Ginger Roots adds, “Horses have an amazing ability for antibodies. Us stable ponies actually had to get blood transfusions from wasteland ponies to stop us from getting sick.”

“Yeah, when my sisters were born I remembered they had to be injected with pony blood to stop the radiation from doing serious harm to them.”

“Really?” Melissa looks at the veins on her wrist.

“In history there been horses that would allow themselves to be envenomated and then somepony would refined their blood into antivenoms,” Ginger Roots remarks, “A pony who survives something like a manticore sting can become pretty rich that way.”

“Also Velvet hoped that wild life would have a chance to leave the wastelands for more radioactive zones.” Littlepip adds, “This appeared to have back fired. The radioactivity suppress most mutations by killing those exposed to it faster. The Gardens of Equestria does the opposite and encourages life. I’ve been told exposure to its energy has doubled our life spans and increased vitality. Because of this the borders where taint and life energy meets, mutation flourishes.”

>

The griffons slip down the sewer hole. They take point with their guns drawn.

“Roots clear!” Deseret orders.

The ginger pony drops down the hold landing on her butt. This caused Vespa to roll her eyes as Melissa helps the mare up.

“Oh, my,” Ginger Roots said in amazement, “My horn is buzzing.”

“You think it’s the radiation?” Deseret asks.

“No this is magic,” Ginger Roots puts her horn against the wall. “What ever this is it’s below us.”

“Sure?” Vespa asks unbelieving.

“I have a talent for sensing deeply buried things.” Ginger Roots answers.

“Okay you have to use the map function on your Pipbuck to tell us where to go,” Deseret speaks to the ginger unicorn.

“Yes,” Ginger Roots looks at her Pipbuck. “There should be a hatch we can go down.”

The party walked down the tunnel and climbed down a few floors. Every once in a while Ginger Roots would ask them to stop to examine some pre war markings or old graffiti.

After a while the party came across an open area that dropped off. Blow them a deep pool of water.

“What is this?” Vespa snarked at the deep blackness spotted with pillars and ramps.

“Old Fillydelphia I suppose,” Ginger Roots remarks.

“I thought they converted that into a Stable?” Deseret points out.

“They must not have used all of it,” Ginger Roots shrugs.

“Hello!” Melissa calls out into the darkness to listen for her echo.

Deseret grabs the younger griffon and slams her into the wall. “What the fuck you think you are doing! We are in enemy territory.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it,” Melissa stutters.

Then they started hearing the screams.

“Okay people boots off the ground,” Deseret orders as she takes off to the air.

“You ride with fatty,” Melissa tells Ginger Roots as she points at Vespa with her thumb.

Ginger Roots hops onto Vespa’s back as the last two griffons take off. They turn their heads around to see mangled ghouls claw their way up the railing at a speed they didn’t think possible. Even from the air and in the darkness they could see the ghouls had chucks of flesh missing.

“What’s wrong with those ghouls?” Melissa asks.

“Why should we care about why a bunch of zombies do what?” Vespa snaps.

“It show’s culture for one,” Ginger Roots points out, “They might have a legit reason for mutilating themselves. We wouldn’t know unless we talk to one?”

“That’s not going to happen,” Deseret calls back.

“Sister, We need a place to land,” Melissa points out.

“Down maybe?” Ginger Root’s suggests.

“The floor appears to be nothing but water,” Deseret replied.

“There’s a building,” Vespa points out.

“Okay for now,” Deseret leads the group to a building with half the wall collapsed.

They landed, Ginger Roots's Pipbuck was clicking an indication that there was radiation in the area. The griffons passed around some Rataway to be safe.

“I think we are getting closer,” Ginger Roots remarks looking at her Pipbuck.

“I think we are near that abandon Stable.” Melissa points out.

“Okay people, enough rest, we head out, It's not safe to stay in the same spot for long.” Deseret orders as she takes to the air.

Vespa and Melissa both look at each other then back at Ginger Roots.

“Roll yeah for who carries her,” Vespa remarks.

The two griffons shakes their fists.

“One”

“Two”

“Thr-oof!”

Vespa punches Melissa in the vag as hard as she could and flies off. The nerve cluster buzzed with pain causing Melissa to get weak in her knees.

Ginger Roots cringes, “Oh my, you griffon’s are harsh.” She turns to look at the griffon’s flying off. “They do realize they need me?”

After a minute Deseret and Vespa came back. The older griffon was glaring knives at Vespa.

“Melissa are you okay?” Deseret asks.

“I’ll be fine,” Melissa grunted stomping her hindleg to get the feeling back.

“Ginger you ride with me,” Deseret spreads her wings to allow Ginger Roots to climb on her back.

Vespa turns to take flight, Melissa makes a fist.

“Melissa pound your sister’s pussy later,” Deseret snaps.

“Nuts,” Melissa sighs.

They reached the metal dome of the Stable. There was a blown large hatch witch Ginger Roots held her Pipbuck in front of her reading the screen.

“I am not going in there,” Vespa remarks.

“No, I don’t think we have to,” Ginger Roots tells her. “This is the source of the rogue ghouls. I think this Stable shielded the radiation from the Gardens of Equestria.”

"Well it was suppose to stand up to Mega Spells," Deseret points out.

“So, let’s get leaving,” Melissa remarks.

Click,

A ghoul unicorn points his gun at them. Parts of his flank was removed.

“Get the fuck away from that door before you draw it out.” He snaps.

Other ghouls start to appear some aiming guns, others holding pipes and boards.

“Des,” Ginger Roots whispers, “My Pipbuck says those guns don’t work.”

“What?” Deseret squints at the weapons. She noticed that they were rusty and water damaged.

Blam!

“Melee weapons!” Deseret shouts dropping her shotgun and pulling out a mace. “Too many of them to use guns!”

The ghouls rushed them. Vespa and Melissa both fire a single shot and pulled out their maces.

“No! No! No!” The unicorn shouts.

The griffons hit the ghouls with melee weapons they made sure each hit took down an enemy. If it didn’t it would incapacitate them enough to handle the next ghoul and hit the first ghoul later. Ginger Roots picked up a gun using SATS to two hit ghouls out of range of the melees.

“Pon-nies!”

In a breath the ghouls slithered into the shadows taking their dead with them.

“Okay? What the fuck?” Vespa remarks with a funny look.

“They really want their dead,” Ginger Roots points out.

“But why?” Melissa said with a discussed look.

“Burry them or something similar,” Ginger Roots shrugs.

“But these are hardened wastelanders and half crazed ghouls,” Melissa points out. “Respecting the dead shouldn’t be the first thing on their mind.”

“Talk about this later,” Deseret snaps, “That voice is what drove them off.”

“Pon-nies!” A large arm with hard growths sticking out of it reaches out from the hatch. A mutated cave troll pulls it’s self out of the Stable.

The griffons pick their guns up and aim it at the troll.

“Hold your fire cave troll’s are dossal,” Ginger Roots shouts.

“Sure?” Vespa asks.

“Pon-nies,” The troll smiles with a deformed lip.

“One way to find out,” Deseret mutters. She steps forward with a nervous smirk on her face and points at herself “We griffons.”

“Bird-dies,” The troll smiles.

“Close enough,” Deseret deadpans.

“Pon-ie,” The troll reaches for Ginger Roots.

The griffons cock their guns.

“Hold it girls,” Ginger Roots puts her hoof out. “Don’t-ack!”

The troll picks the ginger unicorn up by her tail. Her body's weigh pulling on her tail joint causes the unicorn to cry out in pain. The griffons aim their guns.

“Don’t fire unless we can get her safely,” Deseret orders.

“What if we don’t care,” Vespa snarks.

The troll takes the little pony's rear up to his nose. He then licks her undercarriage. Ginger Root’s Pipbuck makes a radiation noise and the pony makes a disgusted face.

“Help,” She eeps.

Melissa fires hitting the troll in the wrist. He drops Ginger Roots who loses her footing and plunges into the dirty water below. Vespa and Melissa starts firing as Deseret dives for Ginger Roots.

The mutant cave troll charges for the griffons as they fire. The winged creatures take to the air to avoid his attack.

“Stupid bird-dies stay still,” The troll spats.

“Sorry trollestria,” Vespa mocks firing a shotgun blast into the thing’s grown over eye.

Deseret pulls Ginger Roots out of the water. They shored at an abandon building. Ginger Roots was still coughing when the ghouls jumped them. Deseret grabs a pot and fights them off killing one.

Ginger Roots moans and she starts to get to her feet.

“Don’t move fast,” Deseret warns.

They hear gunfire in the darkness. Deseret checks her wings. She was too wet to help her sisters at the moment.

“I think they were cooking something,” Ginger Roots covers her muzzle with her hoof to block the smell.

Deseret more apted to the smell of meat looks into the pot.

“They were boiling meat chunks in black water,” She tells the unicorn.

Ginger Roots makes a grossed look. “My goddess, they are boiling ghoul flesh to contaminate the water.

“W-why?” Deseret said unnerved, “The Stable has radiation.”

“The Stable has a cave troll in it,” Ginger Roots smirks.

Deseret checks her ammo. “My bullets should work.”

The two made their way to the second floor where two ghouls jumped them. Deseret takes out one with a gunshot and cracks the other’s skull with the butt of her gun.

“Take the gun,” Deseret tosses Ginger Roots her gun. She points over at a collapsed wall. “Go over there and single fire. Hopefully my sisters can reconnect with us before we can’t hold out.”

Ginger Roots hurries over and fires making a orange spark in the air. Deseret pulls out her mace and smashes the next two ghouls that come in. She then pushed over a book shelf that blocks the door.

The ghouls slam against the door their black decaying hooves and muzzles creep out the crack scraping against whatever they could reach. In a moment of silence the ghouls slink away. A heart beat later Deseret hears the dink of a pin.

“Grenade!” Deseret shouts.

The griffon jumps back and ducks her head the best she could as a black ball flies through the door crack. It explodes in flame.

The ghouls pushed what’s left of the book shelf out of the way allowing them to rush the room. Bullets take out a few ghouls stopping the mob from advancing.

Melissa helps Deseret up. Vespa stood next to Ginger Roots. The ghouls’s stun passed and they started advancing again.

“Pon-nies!” The troll climbs the side of the building. He reaches out for one of the ghouls and puts the screaming zombie into his mouth.

“Oh mother run!” Deseret shouts.

The ghouls turn and run for the doorway. Melissa plays with something in one of her saddle bags. She unstraps the bag and tosses it across the room.

The ghouls bottle neck with the griffons and pony behind them. The troll steps on the floor and it collapsed under his weight. Melissa’s saddle bag explodes. The building starts caving in and around them.

The ceiling slides away. Seeing the gap the griffons fly up through it. They made their way back to the tunnels.

Ginger Roots steps off of Vespa’s back. She was gasping heavily.

“Hell yeah, that was like the good old days with dad,” Vespa cheers to Deseret.

“This is normal?” Ginger Roots said in shock.

“For us, before the sunshine,” Deseret smirks.

“Can we get the heck out of here,” Vespa turns to walk away. Melissa taking the chance and with a big smirk on her face punches her sister in the vag.
_

“Remember ponies on the long road of our journey there are always new beginnings. New allies to be had and new adventures to unfold. But remember to above all stay safe. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”
> Mega Man-Fo:E:SP/Rock-Roll/Forgotten Dolls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   A clang echoes through the dark chamber. With a couple more hits the metal panel fell to the floor with a clatter. The light from the hole bathes a large area cutting through the darkness.

The shadowy figure of a griffon drops down. She walks down the corridor her bird eyes reflecting what little light that was there.

“Yes, this shall do nicely, very nicely indeed,” A grandiose male voice remarks.

“It’s not a Stable but its close,” The griffon remarks, “This is what is known as a Stall. It was what was built to protect ponies before the megaspell was invented and the concept of balefire enhanced by them was introduced. Originally hallowed out rooms where ponies could stand mushed together when air raids happened. This Stall was bought up by Stable-Tec and was officially listed by them as storage.”

Up a head the griffon could see figures of ponies standing still in line formations. Her closer inspection gives more details and she could see that they where metal skeletal frames.

“Storage indeed,” The male voice smirked.

“Robots?” The griffon points out.

“You call them robots, I call them protoforms,” The male voice remarks.

The griffon finds a terminal. She switches it on and started going through the files.

“You might not be that far off,” The griffon remarks, “These things where suppose to have some kind of living plastic encasing them.”

“Where is this plastic?” The male voice demands.

“It was being developed by the Ministry of Peace,” The griffon answers, “They were making the living plastic as away to heal magical wounds. The living plastic would graft its self to a host much like the same way the earth ponies would graft two different species of plants together to make a stronger plant. You could even put them over prosthesis to give the look and feel of real limbs. Development of the plastic was being carried out at Pale Horse Hospital near Manehattan. On an island not far from Friendship City.”

“Can this organic plastic hold a Cybertronian spark like your living wombs can?” The male voice asks.

“In theory, I think these things were meant to hold pony souls,” The griffon answers, “It appears this Stall has some working prototypes.”

“Check them out, yes?” The male voice purred.

The griffon walks up to a sealed door. She took a few moments to type on a panel and the door swings open.

The musty smell coming out made the griffon heck and cough. In side lay two pony mummies hooked to clear tubes and wires. One appeared to be male the other female. The floor had an inch of dust.

“Are they functioning?” The male voice wonders.

“If you mean active no, Alive yes,” The griffon answers walking up to a table which had a set of thermos shaped objects sitting on it. “These should replenish the plastic.”

The dust caused her to hack and cough. She puts the thermoses in slots of some kind of machine. The peach colored liquid pushed into the pony bodies.

The pony children started to get their color back. The young colt was blue with navy mane. The female brilliant red coat. Her mane was blond with a green streak like a ribbon.

“Quick put the Unicron cells in them before they recover,” The voice orders.

The griffon reaches into her saddle bag pulling out a pair of hexagonal metal pieces. She touched each one to a robot foal. The metal cells adsorbed into the flesh.

Moments later the foals opened their eyes.

“Papa!” The blue foal calls out.

“Sorry kids your papa is most likely long gone.” The griffon sighs.

“Rainbow,” The red filly sobs holding her brother.

“They seem to be quiet intelligent for your robots, yes,” The male voice smirks.

“You have names then?” The griffon asks the robot children.

“Yes,” The red filly nods her head. “My brother is called Rainbow Rock and I’m Roulette Roll. You are?”

The griffon smiles, “Call me Miss Featherborn.”

“Your friend mister voice?” Roulette asks in a questioning tone.

“Oh he is called Galvatron,” The griffon answers, “Now children come with me, We have work to do.”

“What kind of work Miss Featherborn,” Roulette asks,

“You’ll see child,” Galvatron answers.

_

“In these new times you might relax your vision against the violence that been corrupting our youth for so long. Be not relaxed ponies since corruption still exists. There are dark forces that take advantage of the innocent. DJ Pon3 Homage signing out.”