> Eternal Shadows > by Chaotic Flier > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1-Hello My Name Is Seven (edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria Labs 404 years ago “Subject is stable her heart rate is normal," I heard a female voice said my body was unresponsive but I could still hear the voices as I heard the clatter of glasses as they collected something. “You better hope this works Twilight the Equestrian Army can’t hold off the advancing Zebra troops for much longer,” a raspy tomboyish voice said in an annoyed tone. “I know it will work Rainbow Dash,” the other voice said with confidence, “Moondancer start the injections.” As soon as she said that I was felt sixty needles enter my skin, the pain was so intense my body began shaking then stopped, my conscience faded the last thing I heard. “Subject is going into cardiac arrest Moond…!” with that I lost consciousness. When I came too I was in a white room surrounded by three ponies in what appeared to be hazmat suits, I tried to move but found I was strapped down. “Interesting subject Seven seems to still be alive and seems unaffected by the extreme radiation exposure she was subjected to," one said looking at what appears to be a clicking box, "Hmm It seems the serum seems to may have modified her body to be nearly immune to radiation, Moondancer write down that the serum may make a pony resistant to radiation.” one said to another who was using magic to jot down notes, “Now time to move onto the next subject.” When that pony said that the third pony injected me with something and I fell back asleep, the next two years I was subjected to horrible tests that would have killed a normal pony, each time I ‘died’ I somehow been changed to become really resistant to whatever killed me. Surprisingly me ‘dying’ didn’t phase me in any noticeable way until test 777 took place. The test was to see if I could survive a Balefire Bomb detonation at close range. The test started just like the rest with me being heavily sedated and strapped down by an angry pegasus mare in a hazmat suit. “This is the last test before you will be turned into a weapon against those who oppose The Eternal Trinity,” The mare whispered to me before she walked away, my drugged mind unable to comprehend what she said until the reinforced magic shielded steel door slammed shut and a countdown commenced. My body was still paralyzed by the drugs but in my mind I was screaming in terror as I was blinded the bright green light of the Balefire bomb detonation. When my vision returned I was running down a hallway I didn’t know how I got here and why I was running but that didn’t stop me till I saw a room, I quickly entered it and slammed the door shut turning around and saw that I was in a locker room. Looking around until I located a mirror which, I quickly looked in the mirror to see what I look like to see if those experiments made me look any different, but to my surprise, I still looked the same. Same long crimson hair, same bright red eyes, and same dark pink coat. Letting out a sigh of relief I began looking around at the lockers then an idea came to mind, if I dress up as one of the guards I could escape. Quickly I ran over to a locker and opened it to find a red jacket with black stripes I quickly grabbed it and put it on, as soon as I had it on the locker room door was kicked in by a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, she was wearing a soldier’s uniform upon seeing me she tried to fire her rifle, but I was on her before she could pull the trigger. I proceeded to slam my hoof into her, sending her through the wall behind her and I turned and ran off without even stopping to see if she was okay I continued down the hall then everything went white. When my vision came back I was outside I felt something like liquid on my hooves looking down I saw they were covered in blood seeing this I screamed in horror… A Stable? Present My eyes snapped open the first thing that I noticed is that my body felt freezing cold, the second is that I was in what looked like a high tech freezer that had a dim light bulb. “Where the hell am I?” I asked out loud as I tried to find a way to open the door so I could get out. I managed to find a window and I looked through it what I saw confused me the hallway seemed to be semi- flooded with water and I do believe I saw something swimming around out there. Great so I am in a freezer in what I think is a underwater base how wonderful and something is out there could anything be worse, I thought angrily as I continued to look for a way out. I was about to give up when I heard gunshots then an ungodly scream followed by the door to the freezer opening and a dark purple mare in a red jumpsuit with a silver mane who used her magic to pulled me out of my cold cell. “Hey are you okay?” The mare asked I shook my head yes,”Good because we need to get out of here quickly.” She said as she handed me a saddle bag that has the number seven stitched on it in red letters.  After making sure I strapped it on she led the way through the freezing water lighting the way with her horn. Half way down the hall I heard a bunch of clicks followed by something jumping out of the water hitting the unicorn knocking her into the water followed by the light going out. The next thing I know we are outside laying in the snow soaking wet. “What the hell was that Seven?” The unicorn mare asked in shock as her horn glowed and dried off the both of us. “I don’t know what you are talking about Last thing I remember is you getting knocked out and the light going out,” I said in confusion blowing my dark red hair out of my face. “Yeah and when I came to your hooves were surrounded by green magic that was shaped like dragon claws which you used to tear that crab creature in half, I heard that they used you as a test subject but I thought that was a myth,” The mare said as she tied her long silver mane into a ponytail, ”Oh yeah my name is Fix It the mechanic of that instillation we just escaped nice to meet you can you tell me your name so I can stop calling you Number Seven.” “My name is Seven it is the only thing i was ever called,” I said with a content smile. “Seriously you were never given a new name by the Forgotten Knights, that's a rip they usually rename their Knights,”  Fix It said then she put her hoof to her chin then she exclaimed, "I got it! You will be called Green Claws!” “No I like Seven it is the name I have had for years.” “Okay fine now can you answer my question about what happened down there?” “I don’t know this is the first time I heard about that so your guess is as good as mine,” I said staring at the snow thinking about why it was grey instead of it’s fresh white color. “Hey I have a question, where are we?” “Uh if memory serves me correctly we are two hundred kilometers away from the Crystal Empire which is southward and four hundred kilometers away from Yakyakistan west of here,” Fix It informed as she stood up. "Well let’s get moving toward the Crystal Empire because we have a very long walk till we get there.” She said as she began walking “Okay Fix lead the way,” I said as I stood up and followed after her towards the Crystal Empire. End of chapter one > 2-follow me my good mare-Edited > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The freezing wind grabbed at us as we walked through the snow and mountains of the frozen tundra of the north toward the Crystal Empire. Fix It was quiet for quite a while as we traveled I continuously watched the horizon trying to spot the empire but still no sign of it. For what I assume was two hours that we walked so I decided on trying to strike up a conversation with Fix It, “Hey, um I’ve been wondering…what can you tell me about the Forgotten Knights? I don’t remember much about them,” I asked looking at her.   “Umm sure I guess, but why didn’t you ask me when I mentioned them when we were talking two hours ago?” she asked with a skeptical look.   “It kinda slipped my mind when we were talking, and I just remembered you mentioned them before,” I answered with a sheepish smile.   “Okay so where to begin well I should start with how the group started. They were formed hundreds of years before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled Equestria well before Equestria was called Equestria by four ponies.” Fix It started as she kept walking. “Those ponies were Chancellor Puddinghead leader of the earth ponies, Princess Platinum the ruler of the unicorns, Commander Hurricane the commander of the pegasi.”   “Who was the fourth founder of the Forgotten Knights?” I asked curious to learn more about the Forgotten Knights, which maybe will jumpstart my memory so I can figure out how I ended up in that freezer.   “Oh that would be Live Wire the last knight of harmony who wielded the Elements of Harmony before they were found by Celestia and Luna,” Fix It explained before she stopped to take a look around before continuing. “Anyway The tribe leaders and the Harmony knight decided that certain things should not be known to the public so they formed the Forgotten Knights to cover up those things and they even covered up how Equestria was really founded.” “Wow I did not expect them to be like that,” I stated in surprise, “um on a completely unrelated note why did you stop and look around before saying that?”   “Because I thought I heard something,” Fix It answered.   “Okay and why didn’t you say something?” I asked before I too took a look around only seeing snow covered land as far as I can see.   “I just did, anyway let’s make camp for the night,” Fix It said using her magic to clear away some snow to make it level.   I looked toward the sun seeing it was about to set, “But there is still daylight out so there is no need to make camp yet.”   “It is currently another day till we get to the Empire, so we need to get some sleep so we can get to the Crystal Empire tomorrow without freezing to death.” Fix It explained as she used her magic to materialize a large silver tent. “Come on in we need to get out of the cold,” with that and a smile she went inside the tent.   I was surprised to see her materialize the tent since she did say she was a mechanic, but I just wrote it off as her being a unicorn. I shook my head before following her into the tent and took off the bag I have been carrying for the last couple hours setting it in a corner. When I looked at Fix It she was already passed out and snoring softly with a smile I laid down sleep soon claimed me. I was screaming and crying as I stared at the blood on my hooves. Why would I hurt somepony? I thought as tears flowed down my face I was crying so hard I didn’t hear a group of soldiers surround me until I looked up and saw them. The soldiers wore large bulky armor, “Who are you?” I choked out between sobs.       “We are the Forgotten Knights and we were sent by our superior to terminate this facility which you have completely decimated,” A knight answered, shocked to hear that I turned around and saw the remains of what used to be where I was experimented on. I then felt an armored hoof on my shoulder, “Miss we need you to come with us,”  I was awoken by a soft thud in the snow outside looking at Fix It to see if she was still asleep to my relief she was. So getting up quietly I walked out of the door and quickly spotted something pure white struggling in the snow. When I got closer my fur stood on end the creature in the snow was a large white vampire bat it was the biggest bat I have ever seen easily bigger than a house. It soon spotted me and hissed but it was too tired to move its head to try and bite me. I looked in its eyes they showed fear and pain so I decided I will help this magnificent creature. “Shhh it’s ok I am not going to hurt you,” I tried to calm the large bat as I approached it slowly the bat stopped hissing and allowed me to approach it. I then began to examine it looking to see what hurt it and found several bullet wounds along its massive body, “Who did this to you?” I placed my hooves on one of the wounds and the bats body began to glow as it began shrink, it continued to shrink until it was the size of a small fruit bat. The now little bat seemed to be absent of the injuries that it had when it was larger because it flew in happy circles before flying off. Once the bat was gone I felt incredibly weak possibly from the bat somehow. Then I heard something that sounded like a gun firing not very far away, I quickly ran to the tent and woke up Fix It. “Wake up I heard gunshots they are too close we need to get moving again,” I informed her as I grabbed my bag and strapped it on.   “come on just chill out we don’t know if they are dangerous or just some rangers patrolling the area so just give me a few more minutes of sleep please.” Fix it said before she went back to sleep but I wasn’t going to let her as I walked outside and gathered some snow, when inside I dropped the snow on her causing her to bolt upright. “AHHH FUCK! I’m up! I’m up! that was freezing cold.”   “Come on something in my gut tells me they are not friendly and we need to get out of here before they get here,” I urged trotting in place.   “Okay just calm down let me pick up my bags and we will be on our way,” Fix It said as she walked over to her bag.   “okay I will be outside,” I said before I exit the tent and ran into a mountain of fur that felt like wool then everything went dark as something large struck me.    400 years ago northern Equestria   Today is the day when I finally join the fight against the Yaks who have declared war on Equestria, and I can’t wait to actually start helping others. Two years ago the Knights found me outside a destroyed lab after locating all survivors one of the unicorn Knights used her magic to erase their memories of the events that transpired there and gathered all surviving test subjects which there were only five other than myself. Of the survivors was a purple unicorn who stared at me with confusion after her memories were erased, days later I learned she used a forbidden spell in her experiments or whatever they never really figured out what she was actually doing. “Pay Attention rookies!” our commander yelled snapping me out of my internal monologue and Startled a pale yellow pegasus with Short Bubblegum pink mane and yellow eyes. "Seven, Ten. You will be airdropped from six hundred meters via sky chariot. Your mission is to eliminate yak cannons that block Equestrian main way of advance so ground forces may pass through. Any enemy personnel should be taken out swiftly and silently. On the success of the operation you will receive additional orders and you next target. You must not, I repeat, must NOT draw attention to yourselves. Here's the Intel on the situation. Memorize it. Questions?" “um if you don’t mind me asking but why were we chosen for this mission?” Ten asked in a light voice that I could barely hear. “You two were chosen for your unique abilities,” He explained as I raised my hoof, “Yes Seven?” “Why isn’t One here she is the only one of us that is good with machines?” I asked our commander. “She suffered a major injury in her last mission so she is now being assigned to the science team of our outpost, so you girls will be using C4 to blow up their cannons, now you two head to the armory where Nine will give you girls your equipment,” with that me and Ten saluted then we left and headed toward the armory to see Nine.   Once at the armory we were greeted by a large orange earth pony mare with a long black mane and light green eyes, “Hey Nine we were sent here to get our equipment for the upcoming mission,” I said to Nine whose face lit up upon seeing us.   “Hey girls I heard you two are going on you first mission so me and One made some unique gear for you two,” Nine said as she grabbed two small boxes from behind her and put them on a table. Opening one box she pulled out a black cloak, “This is a shadow cloak for you Ten it allows you to turn invisible for about twenty minutes so you can transform without worrying about others seeing you.”   “Oh thank you Nine this will help a lot,” Ten said giving Nine a hug.   “Okay now for you Seven,” Nine said as she pulled a red and black revolver out of the other box. “This is the Outcast Revolver it’s a specially made weapon for you, One is actually proud of this weapon she stated that it is the greatest thing created combining magic and technology. Okay so here is what it does it takes your radiation that you have stored in your body and uses it to fire explosive magic rounds it also can use any ammunition so you can reserve the magic rounds for when you absolutely need to cause serious damage.”   “Wow that is just awesome when I come back I have to thank you two!” I exclaimed happily.   “I look forward to it now to your mission gear Ten you will have a Rabbit's Foot stealth sniper you will be lookout for Seven you will also be given thirty explosive rounds.” Nine said as she pulled out a large electric blue sniper rifle and handed it to Nine.   “Hi Angel did you miss mama,” Ten said caressing the gun like it was her baby.   “I keep forgetting you call your sniper Angel why is that?” Nine asked in wonder to our friend’s odd behavior.   “It was the first thing I thought of when we were in training when Sixteen suggested I should name it,” Ten said with a blush.   “Well I like it Sixteen had a pretty cool idea about naming your gun maybe after this mission I will give my revolver a proper name.” I said happily   “Okay, Seven you will have six packs of C4, a Star metal blade, and  you will also be given your customized D.D.M rifle and you will also be receiving the standard issue magic knight armor,” Nine said as she handed me an old styled single shot rifle me and One customized to fire special ammo we created for it.   “Thanks Nines,” I said looking over the black rifle.   “Alright you two are ready for you mission go to the Sky Chariot launch area where the pilot is waiting to take you to Yakyakistan for your mission,” Nine said pushing us out of the armory with our bags of ammo and armor then everything blurred to white.      Present “YAK SAID WAKE UP!!!” A booming voice yelled at me waking me up. Once awake I found myself tied up and in front of me was a large yak, “You are Yak’s prisoner now Pony!” > 3-Shutter(edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- so there I was chained up by a stupid smelly yak. Though to be fair he was twice the size of any yak I have ever seen his fur was a sickly green and his horns were a good two feet longer than normal. I looked around trying to see Fix but she was nowhere to be seen. seems she has evaded capture that’s good to know, I thought relieved she at least got away. “You ponies think you’re so smart thinking you could sneak up on yak like that!” He shouted angrily slamming his left hoof into the snow. “What do you mean we didn’t even know you were he…” I started to explain but I was cut off by more shouting. “Your tricks won’t work on yak, I am the greatest warrior of the northern wasteland and any ranger scum who has foolishly entered my domain to try and kill me has been crushed like a can of tomato soup,” He says as he slammed his hooves into the ground causing the ground to shake. “Sorry but I think you are mistaken great warrior of the North; I am not part of the Rangers whoever they are,” I said adding the great warrior of the North bit to play on his obviously simple mind. “I and my companion were simply heading toward the Crystal Empire.” “Hmm, you said you are heading toward Empire yet you claim to not be a ranger, you little liar!” The yak said shoving his face against mine. “Do you think yak is a fool? No creature dares to enter the Crystal Grave.” “Wait, Crystal Grave? What the hell is that?” I asked confused that the Crystal Empire would be called the Crystal Grave. “It is called the Crystal Grave because any pony who enters dies almost immediately, save for the ghouls who call it home,” a softer female voice said as a mare wearing a black shroud that covered every part of her save for her yellow eyes which seemed familiar. “Warrior, could you please unchain this pony? She means no harm.” The yak simply grunted and stepped behind me to undo my chains. “You are lucky, pony, that lady Shutter decided to let you live,” He grunted to me angrily. “Don’t mind him he is just being protective. Warrior, can you please let us have a moment alone so we can talk?” Shutter asked the yak who in turn nodded and walked off without a word of complaint. “Now that he is gone it is good to see you again Seven,” She said giving me a hug. “Uh, do I know you?” I asked even though this mare’s actions seemed to suggest that I did. “Oh, sorry, I forgot I had my cloak on,” Shutter giggled as her hooves moved to her hood and pulled it back showing her familiar bubblegum pink mane and pale yellow coat. “Ten!?” I exclaimed before I grabbed her and squeeze hugged her. “I am so happy to see a familiar face.” “Me too,” She said through a strained breath as I hugged her, “can you please let go of me I am having trouble breathing.” “Oh, sorry,” I apologized with a huge grin on my face before letting her go. After taking a few deep breaths she opened her mouth to say something but froze in place. Following her gaze, I spotted six ponies coming toward us they all looked like walking corpses with decaying flesh and battle-damaged lightweight armor that appears to be made of junk. “What are those?” “They’re ghouls and they are not happy to see us. We need to take cover, we’re in for a fight.” After Shutter gave her answer she reached into her bag and retrieved a collapsible sniper rifle and extended it into her Rabbit’s Foot sniper. Once loaded, she opened fire on the ghouls, easily blowing the heads off of three of them in seconds. “Now a thing you need to know is these things travel in packs of twenty or more so arm yourself.” “With what? There are no weapons around here!” I asked frantically looking around. “Check your bag. I saw your old revolver in there along with your DDM rifle,” Shutter said as she fell the other three. “And hurry there is more coming.” “Okay,” I said as I ran over to my bag and opened it seeing the two guns I used years ago, grabbing my revolver again felt good then everything turned to white. I found myself in an underground hallway of stable, mangled body parts littered the floor, blood painted the walls, my fur was soaked with blood as I stood above Nine. “Why did you do it?” I asked angrily pointing my revolver at her head. “You were too dangerous to keep alive,” Nine said spitting up blood. “So we decided to kill you and she was just collateral damage,” She added with a bloody smirk. “So she was collateral damage? She had nothing to do with it and you killed her because you wanted me dead,” I said coldly as I pulled the trigger only for my shot to be deflected by a magic force field. Turning around only to be met with a bright flash of light that made my vision blur, “One... why, why did you let them do it?” Was all I said before Nine knocked me out. Snapping out of my memory in time to see an army of these ghoul creatures approaching quickly putting my revolver back in my bag and grabbed my DDM rifle along with several clips of ammo. With my bag back on my back, I loaded my rifle and prepared for the upcoming onslaught of these creatures, to my left was Shutter with her sniper and at my back was Warrior the yak with an oversized hammer. “Okay are you two ready to fight these creatures?” Shutter said while reloading her sniper her gaze showed her fear but her speech and posture didn’t show it at all she really changed since the last time I saw her, I thought as the yak stood tall and spoke. “Yes my Mistress Yak is ready to fight these ghouls and be victorious,” Warrior said proudly as he stomped his hooves on the snow raising his mighty hammer. “I am so ready this fight will be a fun one,” I stated with a smile for some reason I was eager to fight these ghouls, that was when they ran at us with their weapons raised. The first one to get close enough to attack had Shutter’s rifle barrel down their throat and within a millisecond later they were turned to a red mist as she pulled the trigger. Turning back to the horde of ghouls as they approached pulling my rifle up I pulled the trigger the familiar sound of agonizing screams filled the air as limbs were blown off, the sound strangely made me happy but I didn’t know why but I didn’t get to dwell on it long as I was hit by a wooden club knocking me out of my thoughts with an anger-filled scream I grabbed the ghoul who hit me and put my hooves around its head then proceeded to break its neck and I then burst into a fit of insane laughter as I watched its lifeless corpse fell to the ground. “So which one of you is next?” I asked the ghouls with a wicked grin on my face, why am I enjoying this? I shouldn’t enjoy this, I thought to myself as I continued to tear these ghouls apart like they were made of paper. “Seven!” I heard Shutter call snapping me out of my trace and what I saw afterward horrified me. My hooves were around Shutter’s left hoof I was only a slight tug away from ripping off her arm, behind her the ground was littered with the mangled corpse. Upon seeing this my body refused to move and I then collapsed onto the ground unconscious. My eyes shot open to find I was on Warrior’s back the yak was carrying me somewhere turning to my right I spotted shutter walking alongside him. I let out a groan for some reason my whole body burned like I was on fire, noticing my groaning Shutter turned to me. “You okay Seven?” She asked. “I am fine, where are we going?” “To the Crystal Grave, you said you and your companion were heading there maybe they are already there. Anyway, you need to rest because you used up all your stored energy.” Shutter suggested before I drifted back asleep. After I and Ten put our gear on we made our way to the Sky Chariots where we were greeted by a bright blue pegasus with a mane that continuously shifted color. “Hey, are you guys ready to make the jump into enemy territory with the best Sky Chariot driver ever?” She asked with a cocky smile. “Nice to see you too Sixteen see you are as confident as ever,” I said with a smile as we hoof bumped. “Hey look who it is the Lunatic and The Scaredy pegasus,” A voice mocked I turned around and saw six pegasi in a group all stared at us with mocking grins and smiles. “Hey guys cut it out, these are my friends,” Sixteen said moving in front of us. “So your friends with these outcasts they are nothing but a joke, lowest scores in the academy and they have never seen real combat,” The leader of the six-pointed out. “We are going on a mission today in Yakyakistan to destroy those cannons so the command doesn’t think of us as outcasts so ha,” I said trying to prove to them that the higher-ups had faith in us. “Wow you got a suicide mission, how lame you two will most definitely get killed,” the group nodded in agreement to this statement. “No, they will succeed and all of you will be apologizing to them when they get back,” Sixteen said before turning away. “You two come with me we are heading to Yakyakistan.” She began walking toward the sky chariot Ten following close behind. I turned to look at the group with the craziest smile I could do while making my eyes glow green causing them to freeze in terror, with a laugh I followed Sixteen and Ten then everything faded to white. My eyes opened once more and the first thing I see is a kingdom’s ruins the castle in the center looked like a dragon took a huge bite out of it, the rest of the kingdom was difficult to see due to an extremely dense green fog. “Where are we?” I asked through a groan. “Ah, Seven you woke up just in time to see what is known as the Chrystal Grave named for the fact that any pony who enters dies almost immediately from extreme radiation poisoning,” Shutter explained. “Hopefully your companion has not entered this death trap” “I hope so too,” I said looking at the Crystal Grave in fear and hoped that Fix It didn’t go in. > 4-Dragons and Cultists > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         I sat there on Warrior’s back staring at the Crystal Grave before he layed me on the snow due to my stupid body still refusing to move. While laying in the cold snow I began to think of the past two days I mean like in the first couple hours I killed a giant crab creature, the next day I killed a lot of those zombie pony things that Ten called ghouls. Thinking about the ghouls reminded me of the fact I tried to kill Ten when I lost control.         “Hey Seven did you hear me?” Ten asked snapping me out of my thoughts. “I asked are you hungry?”         “Uh yes,” I answered glumly as I managed to push myself into a sitting position. Ten handed me a few small red berries about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, I popped one into my mouth and quickly spit it out it was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten. “Ugh what the hell are those.”         “Um they are Crystal Berries I know they are kinda too sweet but I thought you would like them due to you loving sweets,” Ten said shocked at the fact I didn’t like the berries.         “Huh I guess the past couple hundred years messed up my taste buds.” I said with a frown staring at the ground.         “What is wrong seven?” Ten asked with concern. “You have been acting strangely since we met up as in you are not acting like your usual upbeat and optimistic self.” I did not answer her I simply laid back down on the snow and went to sleep. 200 years after the war Three days before Operation: Cauterize is put into motion         I let out a yawn of boredom as I walked through the remains of a large city that must have been important before the war, but I didn’t care about that I needed to do something about my intense boredom and fast before I blow my brains out.  With a sigh I sat down and reached into my bag and pulled out good ol’ Outcast. Which surprisingly isn’t rusted from two hundred years of constant use must be the magic aspect of it. Setting Outcast aside I found what I was looking for a case of cigars I purchased from the last town I was in.         Pulling a cigar from the case, I bit one end off and spit it out I put it into my mouth and used a lighter I got off a mercenary who killed some griffon raider and was celebrating at a bar and tried to get me to accompany him for the night which led him to getting neutered by a radscorpion. I let out a light giggle as i remember the look of his face when it happened too. With a cigar in my mouth I grabbed my gun lifted my black jacket and put it in its holster on my right hind leg over the dark red skin tight suit I am wearing. After putting my saddlebag back on I heard the sound of something digging underneath my hooves but before I could move a large hellhound burst from the ground and slashed me across the chest tearing my jacket to shreds. “Hey if you wanted to fight you could've just asked,” I said in an enthusiastic tone looking at the hellhound with a happy grin spread across my face which grew with glee as ten more showed up. “NOW IT’S A REAL PARTY!” I yelled in glee as the one in front of me pounced at me, grabbing the remains of my jacket in my teeth, I ripped it off and flung it into the face of the hellhound blinding him.I quickly jumped out of the way causing the hellhound to crash into the one behind me I reached for my revolver and grabbed it but as I pulled it out a beam of magic struck my hoof causing me to drop my revolver. Before they attacked I heard crying which snapped me out of my imaginary brawl with hellhounds.         My eyes shot toward the sound of crying, to a sealed safety pod next to a collapsed market. As i approached the safety pod the crying became distinctly obvious that it was a little filly that was crying. I knocked on the safety pod lightly only to hear a little eep from the little filly inside.         “Hello there are you hurt little one?” I asked the filly who seemed to refused to answer so I continued. “My name is…” I paused when the pod slid open revealing a small orange pegasus filly with a fuchsia and neon pink mane and tail that had a militaristic styling which showed she more than likely was part of the Enclave or was a Ranger trainee that might have run away.”...Seven.” The little pony squeaked before backing away looking terrified and slammed the container shut again.         “Kid just chill, I am not gonna hurt you just wanted to know if you were ok,” I said with a friendly voice sitting down next to the pod.         “I am fine now leave me alone before they hurt you like they did to the ponies in this town,” the filly said trying to scare me away or maybe warn me.         “Well whoever they are can try to hurt me but they are more likely to get hurt,” I laughed pulling out another cigar putting it in my mouth and lit it with the green aura that extends from my hooves. “So what's your name kid.”         “Sky Blazer and your’s?”         “I already said it was Seven you really weren’t listening to me, were you,” I giggled staring at the destroyed buildings. “Hey Sky I want to know about who you're talking about, who hurt the ponies here?”         “The Grand Pegasus Enclave did they are after me,” The filly’s voice was shaking with fear.         “Why are they after you? You don’t look like somepony that the Enclave would go after without reason.” I stated as i exhaled the cigar smoke into the shape of a ring.         “I...I am just somepony who escaped from the cloud layer and c...came to the surface,” The filly lied which is clear from the shakiness of her voice.         “I don’t like liers, tell me the truth or I will seal you in there,” I lied about the sealing her in there but she clearly believed it.         “Fine I have blueprints to a weapon they plan on using it against the whole of Equestria with it. I didn’t believe in what they were doing so I stole it and planned to bring it to the Rangers and maybe give them a chance at stopping it,” Sky said truthfully though she seemed to be hiding something else but I let it slide.         “So you plan to cross the entire wasteland to give the Rangers a fighting chance how noble, but let me be the first to tell you that it is too dangerous for you-” I started but was interrupted by Sky.         “I don’t care if it is dangerous, I have to help them what the Enclave is going to do is wrong, even if I-.”         “Let me finish I was saying it is too dangerous for you,” I said seriously getting up and pressed the button on the side of the pod sliding the door open startling the young filly. “And what reasonable adult would let a cute little filly go by themselves.”         “Wait you mean…”         “Yep I will help you get the blueprints to the Rangers,” I said with a smile as Sky was dumbfounded by the fact I was willing to help a complete stranger.         “Why do you want to help me?” she asked nervously shuffling her hooves.         “Simple it is the right thing to do,”         Waking up from my odd dream/memory it wasn’t familiar but it seemed so real, any way odd dreams aside I looked next to me I spotted Ten staring at the moon. “Seven I know you’re awake I need to talk to you about something,” Ten said to me not even turning to look at me.         “Sure thing Ten,” I said getting up off ground and slowly walked next to Ten.         “I wanna know something,” Ten stated turning to look me in the eye. “Where have you been the past four hundred years?”         “What do you mean by that?” I asked confused.         “I have been looking for you since the Yakyakastan mission,” Ten explained her eyes showing resentment though i didn’t notice it at the time..         “I don’t know where I was my memory has been a bit fuzzy, from what I can recall though the first two hundred years I wandered the wastelands hyped up on all the excessive magic from the mega spells though it is possible that could have been my imagination,”I explained placing a hoof on my chin. “And i know for a fact I woke up in our old abandoned base near here and saved by a purple unicorn named Fix It.”         “Wait a minute you saw Fix It!” Ten exclaimed startling Warrior who jumped up from his slumber lifting his giant warhammer ready for battle he then noticed it was only Ten so he went back to sleep.         “Yeah she was with me before Warrior caught me,” I said with a shrug and was almost immediately tackled by Ten.         “Where is she!” Ten yelled as she held me to the ground. “Where is Fix It!?” it was then I noticed this wasn’t how the  Ten I know would act.         “Get off of me!” I yelled kicking her off with my hind legs sending her flying but using her wings she stopped herself from getting too far. I watched as her body burst into pink flames I soon felt pain as Warrior brought his hammer to my side sending me a good ten feet away.         “Warrior knew pony would be trouble now Warrior smash!” He yelled bringing his hammer downward toward me I quickly rolled out of the way and onto my hooves. But Warrior was quicker than I thought as he hit me with the hammer again sending me towards the Crystal Grave. “Ponies never stand a chance against Warrior the strongest in the north!” He yelled raising his hammer to bring it down on my head, I closed my eyes and braced for death.         I then heard a loud bang and a heavy thud on the ground as Warrior fell to the ground dead. Before I could sigh in relief though Ten flew into sight or what I thought was ten. She was a massive golden manticore, she flew at me and was hit by a cannonball fired from the Crystal Grave. Ten roared ferociously as she turned her attention to the Grave it was here the pain from being hit by the massive yak’s hammer finally kicked in causing me to pass out from the pain.         “Sister are you okay?” A raspy voice asked me through the darkness of my unconsciousness. “She is unresponsive brother.”         “Quickly we need-” Another more baritone voice started but stopped when my eyes shot open. I was quickly blinded by a bright light that hung above me. Blinking a few times I was able to see again and saw that I was in the middle of a crumbling hospital room with two ghouls on in a nurse hat while the other wore magic armor made of crystal ore.         “Who are you? Where am I?” I asked the two ghouls who looked at me with their sunken eyes. One was a mare looking ghoul while the other was a large crystal pony stallion with a cracked coat.         “Don’t worry sister we are the followers of the Dragon's Flame, and you are at the medical center in the kingdom,” The mare answered with her raspy voice that grated against my ears.         “What my associate means is her name is Starry Flint,” The crystal stallion corrected. “My name is Defiant Barding, and I am the leader of the followers of the Dragon’s Flame.”         “Okay I have one more question, why does Starry Flint keep calling me sister?” I asked looking at the aquamarine stallion.         “All ghouls are brothers and sisters to the Followers,” Starry Flint answered with a friendly smile but I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact they thought I was a ghoul. “What so funny?”         “You guys think I am a ghoul that's just funny,” I said between giggles.         “But you are a ghoul aren’t you?” Starry Flint asked confused staring at me with a puzzled look.         “Nah but thanks for the help those two would have ended me for sure,” I said with a smile as I hopped off the bed and for some odd reason feeling like i was never hit by a large sledgehammer to the chest. “And I feel great.”         “Sorry but you won’t be for very long,” Defiant said but before I could ask him what he meant I felt a sharp pain in my neck and a slight burning sensation before I fell to the ground unconscious. When I awoken from my drug induced slumber I found myself chained to a large stone pillar in the middle of a large coliseum. Looking at the stands I saw hundreds of ghoul ponies in the stands watching me cheering and the sounds of ceremonial drums pounding. I began to struggle against the heavy chains but they did not even budge. Mare you need to stop getting knocked out it is getting annoying, I thought as I stopped struggling against the chains, deciding to reserve my strength for when I get free again so I can escape this stupid place. I was content to just wait there but then the ground shook as a mighty roar came from within the ground. What in Equestria was that? I asked myself but I soon got my answer as a large white draconian hand burst through the ground of the coliseum. It was quickly followed by the rest of the dragon as it rose toward the sky. The crowd began cheering that is when I realised what was happening, they are sacrificing me to a dragon. “Oh hell no!” I exclaimed as I tried to break free again but I stopped as the dragon took a closer look at me and me it. The dragon was pure white with long purple spines that gave the dragon a more feminine look, and lastly the eyes were a beautiful crystal blue that held a bit of familiarity to them. As i looked into the eyes an image came into my mind an image of a beautiful unicorn mare with a silver white coat with a short regal purple pixie cut mane that framed her chrystal blue eyes. “Twenty-three,” I whispered and the dragon’s eyes widened slightly meaning it heard me it back away and raised its massive claws ready to slash I closed my eyes tightly thinking it was my end. When I felt the chains fall away I opened my eyes and saw that I somehow moved to a large cave surrounded by crystals of all shapes, sizes and colors. I looked up at the dragoness who brought me here and smiled. “It has been a while hasn’t it Twenty-Three?” I said to the dragoness. “I agree Balefire darling,” She said in a prim and proper voice, Wait did she say Balefire? “ it must have been a while since you called me Twenty-Three instead of Radiant Geode.” “Wait why did you call me Balefire?” I asked confused looking at the dragoness. “Oh I was expecting a question about why am I a dragon,” She stated plainly. “Well I called you Balefire because it is your name.” End of Chapter. > 5-Alpha and New Beginnings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eternal Shadows Chapter 5: Alpha and New Beginnings I stared at the dragoness like she spoke in a foreign language, I don't recall ever going by that name. "Please explain why I don't recall going by that name?" I finally asked looking at my friend in her crystal blue eyes which showed confusion. "What do you mean by you can't recall going by Balefire?" She looked at me closer than before and her eyes widened with realization. "Oh my Celestia! You're Luc-" Radiant was cut off by the roof of the cave collapsing on top of her head, I quickly backed up before the debris could have landed on me, though it caused a lot of dust to cover the cave blocking my vision. I started to cough as I inhaled the dust, I covered my mouth with my hoof before I inhaled more dust. As the dust started to clear up I looked upward to see what caused the cave in, what I saw through the dust brought both dread and curiosity to my mind. There in the center of the newly formed entrance was a pony cloaked in crimson robes, and was using two purple wings to hover in place as they looked down at me. I suddenly felt my body stiffening as I lost all control of my body as I felt the familiar fuzzy feeling of magic envelope my entire body. Soon I felt weightless as I was lifted towards the cloaked pony, my body screamed for me to struggle against the magic but my mind told me that resistance is futile against this magic. As I was pulled closer I saw that the pony possessed a unicorn horn in addition to their pegasus wings, so that would mean this pony is an alicorn. The next thing I noticed is the purple and white mask covering their face, only leaving their red eyes visible. "Hello again Seven," a familiar feminine voice said through the mask. "Or are you Lucky Day? I never could tell you two apart." Lucky Day that name sounds familiar, I thought before I heard a roar of anger from below me and the cloaked alicorn. Looking down I spotted Radiant crashing the rubble as she reached towards the alicorn. "ALPHA!!" She roared as she closed in on her target only to be ensnared by the alicorn's magic as well. "It's nice to see you too Radiant Geode," the mare I assume is named Alpha stated in a sarcastic tone before she turned back to me. "You must be Seven since I know for a fact Lucky hates dragons," she sighed before continuing. "A shame too, I would have enjoyed the challenge. Now what to do with you," she paused placing her left hoof on her chin as she thought. "You will regret this when I get free," Radiant threaten as she struggled against the alicorn's magic to no avail. I watched Alpha closely, whose eyes rolled before I heard a loud crack from Radiant's direction. Looking towards the dragoness I let out a shocked gasp when I saw her neck twisted at an odd angle and her eyes showed surprise. "Hmm, only surprise not fear, very interesting," Alpha muttered to oherself noting Radiant's final expression. She released the dragon corpse and pulled me closer till her red eyes looked me directly into mine. "Now back to you my little mystery of a pony what to do with you? Hmm oh how about a little game I like to call find the body," she gave a laugh as dread washed over my face. " here are the rules of the game I throw you high into the sky as far as I can then I find your body after, does that sound like fun?" "No that sounds horrible," I said as I felt dread flooding through my body, this only brought a chuckle from Alpha. "You are just so adorable," she chuckled lightly. "I have half the mind of letting you go, by it nah," she laughed before her horn and eyes shown fiercel, a split second later I felt a powerful jerking motion as Alpha flung me into the sky. The wind screamed passed my head as I tumbled through the air like a rag doll. Equestria zipped by like a runny oil painting. I couldn't breath, the air too thin and moving too fast for my lungs to inhale. While all this was noted by my body I failed to see the incoming mountain, then everything went black. "Private Lucky Day!" A stallion yelled in the distance, ignoring it I turn in my bunk. "Private Lucky Day, get your lazy flank out of bed right now!" The stallion yelled again, which I ignored as well or at least tried to until magic grabbed me and pulled me out of bed. "Ow," I cried when I hit the ground, opening my eyes to see a rather large white pegasus with massive bulging muscles and comically small wings. Standing next to him was a blue unicorn with a blue and white mane. "You are a disappointment soldier," Sergeant Bulk Biceps shouted causing my ears to flatten out of embarrassment. "Sorry sir," I squeaked saluting Sergeant Bulk Biceps. "Won't happen again sir." "Good private," Sgt. Bulk grunted before the mare next to him cleared her throat. "Private Lucky this is Captain Minuette," he gestures to the unicorn. "She will be your commanding officer, as well as your new teammate, I will leave you two alone to get to know each other," with that he left the two of us alone in the barracks. Slowly I turned to Captain Minuette and gulped, I will admit I am scared of the mare. I mean in the few moments I known the captain she barely spoke and she seemed worse than the sergeant. Then I hear a slight giggle from the captain, my eyes widen in surpris, she bursts out laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked the Laughing pony. '"The look on your face," she answered between laughs. "It's priceless, you probably think I am some kind of hard ass and think I am gonna make your life a living hell." I nod my head slowly as she says this. "Well you can't always assume anything about somepony, you never know if you'll make a new friend," she said with a smile. My eyes open slowly as I awake in a strange place, the walls were made of sturdy wood with shelves stocked with alcoholic beverages of every kind. From those two things as well as the light chill to the room I would say I am in a wine locker of some kind of bar, but there is no way that is possible. I landed in the forest, didn't I? I asked myself wondering how I got here, good thing I didn't have to wait long for an answer. "Well I'll be, look who finally woke up," an upbeat voice said on the other side of the cellar. I slowly lifted myself trying to look at the other pony in the room, but I stopped moving when I felt a hoof touch me. "Easy now, don't rush yourself," the pony said trying to comfort me. "Now you are lucky my daughter found you or you would have died," the pony walked into my field of vision. She was snow white, with a light brown mane and ocean blue eyes. "Who are you," I asked quietly looking at the mare. "Well my name is Coconut Rum," she introduced herself stepping back as I sat up from the bed roll. It was then I noticed she was wearing a dirty dress with a few grease stains on the front. "My name is..." my eyes shift down to the wooden floor, what is my name? I have no clue who I really am that new memory only confusing me even more, am I Seven or am I Lucky Day? "Is everything okay?" Coconut Rum asked looking at me concerned. "I am fine just spacing out," I lied before taking a deep breath and said the first thing that came to mind. "My name is Lucky Seven," I said almost unsure of the name my head came up with. "How fitting," Coconut smiled before continuing. "I mean after the shape you were in when Bourbon found you," as she said that a young unicorn filly walked into the room. "Mom!" The filly yelled in surprise. "Why didn't tell me she was awake!" Looking at the filly she was a golden yellow unicorn with a copper mane, she is wearing a black dress, and her eyes were a silvery grey. "Sorry Bourbon sweetie she just woke up," Coconut apologized while walking next to her daughter. "This is Lucky Seven," she gestured to me. "And this little sun drop is Bourbon Shot my youngest daughter," She squeezed the golden filly. Standing up I looked at the filly who turned away in embarrassment. "So you are the one who found me," I said with a smile. "It wasn't that hard to find you," she mumbles under her breath barely audible. "Well thank you for that," I thanked her ignoring the comment she made. "Your welcome," she mumbles backing out of the room. I looked at Coconut Rum who shrugged before leaving as well, leaving me alone in the cellar. Sitting down on the floor I began to reflect on what is happening. I apparently have two separate sets of memories and here's the kicker they belong to two ponies who look exactly alike. I have no idea who I really am or how I can find out. I was about to continue my thoughts when I heard the door open again, turning to see if it was Coconut Rum again but was greeted by a caramel colored unicorn mare. "Well she breathes," the unicorn said brushing her golden blonde mane out of her eyes. "Any way ma told me you awoken, and I decided to see it for myself," she said as she walked towards me. "Names Whiskey Danger and your name is?" "Lucky Seven," I said looking over Whiskey as she got closer. She seemed to be wearing some kind of body armor that may be a custom job, it contains pieces of several types of armor from griffin made to pegasus armor and everything in between. She stopped right in front of me and looked down with a smile. "Time to get up lazy bones," she said using her magic to lift me. "you are going to be living with me till you get better, so let's get you home before ma gets cross with me," she smiled as she carried me out of the bar. END OF CHAPTER FIVE > 6-Welcome to Paradise and the entrance to hell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eternal Shadows Chapter Six As I was dragged out of the cellar by Whiskey my face got red with embarrassment, then I began flailing around until she let me go. Hitting the ground with a resounding thud of my hooves hitting the wooden floor, standing up I stared at the unicorn with an angry look at which she started laughing. "What the hell," I nearly shouted at the blonde mare who started to laugh harder, "What's so funny?" "Nothing, just your reaction," Whiskey answered with a laugh. I just huffed and looked around the room, which confirmed my suspicions of me being in a bar. The wooden bar contained a few freshly made Applewood tables with matching chairs and a long wooden bar where a few ponies sat down drinking a variety of alcohol. I soon noticed a picture hanging behind Whiskey near the door that I was carried out of, and from the fading of the picture that it was a few hundred years old. The picture showed two ponies an earth pony stallion and a unicorn mare. the unicorn stallion was massive compared to most unicorns I have seen especially in his power armor, the earth pony mare on the other hand was a little bit taller than Whiskey and myself. Now I couldn't make out much of the stallion due to him wearing full body armor, but the mare was dressed in a simple dress that accented her orange fur and black mane that made her look like Nine from my flashbacks. "So you noticed the picture of my great grandfather Titan Blade and my great grandmother Arsenal," Whiskey stated with a smile while walking over to the old picture. "They founded this town to be a safe haven from bandits, raiders, hell hounds, zombies and other dangerous things that live in the wasteland." She then turned back to me and continued. "You see this village is the safest place in Equestria for all those who are looking for a place to call home. But unlike most safe havens in the wasteland it doesn't have walls or turrets, our little paradise is protected by my family since it was founded." "Wow that is amazing," I stated as I looked closer at the picture, that would explain the armor Titan Blade is wearing, I thought then curiousity brought my attention to Arsenal. "What can you tell me about your grandmother?" "Other than what I told you already not much," She said bringing her hoof to her chin in thought her eyes narrowing in thought, then suddenly brighten when she remembered something. "Ma told me a long time ago that Granny constantly talked about somepony from when she was a girl." "Did she say anything about a name," I asked curious to hear about this pony. "Na, she never said their name and when any pony asked she just say they have no name and they are lucky for not having one," Whiskey answered with a shrug before walking away. "If you don't want to me to pick you up and carry you again you might want to follow me or if you want me to just tell me," She said turning to look at me with a wink followed by a laugh as she walked out the door. Was that my Imagination or was she just flirting with me, I asked myself before following the caramel unicorn not wanting to be carried again. As I stepped out the door I was greeted by harsh sunlight and the smell of apples from the orchard that surrounds the town. "Welcome to Titan's End the paradise of the wasteland," Whiskey said gesturing outward toward the town. The town was a hand build wooden town that seem to capture the feel of prewar Equestria aside from the single metal building at the end of the street. "Come on follow me we need to get ready," She said walking briskly towards the metal house. "Ready for what?" I asked the strange unicorn while I followed closely behind. "Well since you are clearly okay and not badly injured you will be coming with me for a salvage run," She answered stopping by the front door of the metal house and turned to me with a smile. "I do hope you know how to defend yourself, the last salvage team we sent out never came back that's why I'm going." "Yes I do know how to defend myself really well," I answered while looking at the ground a bit hesitant to admit it. "Awsome so I don't have to babysit you the entire time and find more salvage then just one of us looking," Whiskey happily opened the door to the massive metal house and walked inside with me closely behind. Inside was a massive vault door that was the most complicated I have ever seen. "This," Whiskey gestured to the vault door, "Is a triple plated, magic repellent, star metal vault door the toughest door to open in the world, hell maybe even beyond it." "Why do you need such a strong door," I asked the proud unicorn, staring at the door curious about what could be behind it. "To make sure these weapons and armor don't fall into the wrong hands," Whiskey smiled smugly opening the door revealing a large storage area with rows upon rows of weapons and armor. "Wow," I gasped in awe at the sight, "You have enough weapons and armor here to outfit an entire army." "I know," She said with glee before continuing. "This is the largest cache of weapons, well other than the one under the control of the Alpha," That peaked my interest more than this vault of weapons. "What do you know about this Alpha pony?" I asked Whiskey who turned to me and smiled. "Well other than the obvious she is the only alicorn left in Equestria," She answered while her horn ignited though nothing happened I could hear the distinct hum of magic. "And she is also responsible for the deaths of almost every pony in a war two hundred years ago, at least that's what my great grandmother said." "The first part I know since I seen her up close," I stated and from the look in Whiskey's eyes told me that what I said was uncommon. "You have seen Alpha," She exclaimed grabbing me and looking me in the eyes with a smile. "you are possibly more useful than what I originally thought," She let me go and the hum of magic grew louder as she brought two sets of armor. One of the sets looked like power armor but lower grade, maybe just a suit of metal armor. The other one seemed to be made of some kind of fabric that forms a tan trench coat. "So which kind of armor do you want heavy or light armor?" she asked bringing the armor closer to my face. "Um," the choice seems to be kind of difficult at first but I realize that I need to move more than I need defense. "The light armor please," I answered Whiskey who handed me the armor, turned around and began looking for something else. Looking at the armor she handed me it was in fact a trench coat, but underneath the coat was a set of prewar riot armor with the number seventy-seven painted in red paint. I put the riot armor, which was a simple bulletproof vest with a black suit underneath that hugged my body tightly, on and pulled the trench coat over it. Looking back at the caramel unicorn who was now holding two saddle bags. One had a whiskey bottle with a wrench behind it, while the other had a nine with a crosshairs surrounding it. "This saddle bag is mine," Whiskey held up the one with a whiskey bottle. "This one is yours," she tossed the one with the nine on it. "There is medicine, a map, and a few chems ma made from some plant native to the region," Whiskey explained strapping on the bag. "What are you expecting to happen on this salvage run?" I asked worried about why we would need such provisions. "As I said before the salvage teams have been disappearing lately and I want to find out why," She explained with a worried expression. "I mean salvaging helps support our town, you see we're the best metal workers in the wasteland," She used her magic to grab two guns, one was a massive cannon like weapon that was the most intricately designed weapon I ever saw with a freshly polished muzzle and the metal was a black charcoal color and the other was a black revolver with the words 'To The Ends Of Equestria We Will Defend The Weak' engraved in gold. "These are prime examples of some of our best works," Whiskey stated handing me the revolver. I looked at the engraving closely and it reminded me of something. "This engraving, where did this come from?" I asked the blonde pony who just shrugged. "I don't know, great grandma made it our slogan when she started the whole blacksmithing thing," she answered putting the cannon on her back attaching to her armor keeping it in place. "Use that revolver I gave you to defend yourself if you have too alright," Whiskey turned to leave with me following closely behind her. "We are leaving now, do you need anything special before we leave?" she asked looking at me. "No ma'am, I think I have everything I need with me," I stated taking a mental inventory: medicine check, map check, special chems that I don't know what they do check, a special revolver check, and no ammo check. "Yep seems about right," I said with a smile. "Are you sure about that?" She asked looking a bit confused, I shook my head yes. "Okay," she said unsure of what I was saying. "You do know you have no ammo right?" "Yes I do know and I do not need much to defend myself," I stated with a reassuring smile. "Well if you say so Lucky," Whiskey said rolling her eyes returning the smile. "then we should get moving," she smiled before leading the way out of the town. I followed Whiskey out of town and through the woods I paid close attention to the trees just in case anything dangerous wanted to pop out and say hi. "Do you have any ideas of why your salvagers kept disappearing?" I asked the heavily armed unicorn. "I have a good Idea," She said glumly looking forward. "I believe it might be Hell Hounds," I was not phased by this revelation. "But it could also be any number of things around here, I mean there have been sightings of radigators around here recently, but I highly doubt they killed the salvagers and left no trace." "So you think hell hounds are behind this due to the fact there are no bodies to be found?" I asked Whiskey paying closer attention to my surroundings. "I know hell hounds are killers who absolutely hate ponies and they can be pretty smart, but I doubt they are smart enough to remove all traces of the salvage team." "Well I believe they do," She sounded certain but I was not convinced. I know I have fought hell hounds before even if I don't remember doing it, and my instincts tell me that there is more to these disappearances than just wild animal attacks. I kept these feelings to myself I did not want to make my companion mad. An hour passes with no incident though there are a few encounters with some wild dogs but nothing note worthy. Suddenly Whiskey stopped next to a cliff and gestured for me to stand next to her. When I reached the cliff I saw something that would frighten any pony, Below the cliff was a group of thirty or more hell hounds and they all seem to be looking at us. End Of Chapter Six > 7-Hellhounds, a friend returns, and a shockingly obvious plot twist > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There we stood, our gazes locked with thirty or so hellhounds and to be frank I was scared. Sure I have weird powers and I can survive being thrown into a mountain so fast it would make the Wonderbolts look like they are moving in slow motion, but hellhounds are a completely different ball game sure I can take maybe two or three out but there are always more than that running in a pack. I dared to look away and look at Whiskey who was surprisingly calm. “I hope you are able to run fast,” The blonde said lifting her cannon from her back with her rose red magic. “Cause I believe we’re in trouble,” She continued before the hellhounds howled and began climbing rapidly up the cliff side. “Run now!” She yelled as she fired her cannon taking out a small hellhound in front. As she yelled run I was flooded with a sudden memory… I was surrounded by my dead teammates the only ones left were me and Minuette, I was bleeding from my right side where I was slashed by that monster in the darkness of this cave, Minuette was only slightly injured with just a small cut on her cheek. Then a roar from that beast again as it charged us Minuette looked to me and yelled. “RUN NOW LUCKY,” and I ran out of the cave only to hear her scream as she fell to the beast as well. I snapped back to the present in time to see the wave of hellhounds finally close enough to attack us. I looked at Whiskey then back down the path. “Well I guess today’s a good day to die,” I said to myself before I turned to Whiskey. “No we do this together but you need to backup your weapons will do better farther I will keep them here,” I told her as I felt a light burning sensation in my skin but I ignored it and turned to the closing hounds. The first one finally was in range and with all my might I struck the massive dog with all my might he incinerated shocked the dogs stopped I looked down at my hoof and saw for the first time my hooves were surrounded by a green fire like substance. “What the...” I started before the hounds got over their shock and went back on to the attack. The first one to reach me hesitated for a moment before swinging his massive claw narrowly missing my face by millimeters. I raised my hoof to strike him but he quickly swung his massive tail knocking me into another hound who grabbed me and began to crush me with all it’s might. The pain was horrible as I felt pressure build up in my skull before he could crushed me to death a loud gunshot sounded hitting the hound holding me in his left eye, he released his grip on me in that second I brought my left hoof to the other hounds gut the green fire on my hooves began to consume him. Suddenly the air filled with more bullets the hounds were being hammered by the thousands of bullets flying through the air. I quickly dropped to the dirt to avoid getting shot, the hounds not dead or wounded turned tail and tried to run but they stopped looking past the hounds I was greeted by a familiar unicorn. Fix It stood in front of the remaining hounds the gunfire stopped from behind them. “Hello there,” She said with a happy tone that completely didn’t fit the angry look on her face. “I see you monsters are hurting my friend,” Her horn began to glow violently. “But alas I don’t want to kill you freaks of nature,” a smile crept across her face as she unleashed her spell where there were twenty hellhounds now stood twenty fluffy brown rabbits. Looking behind me I was greeted by several heavily armored ponies with battle saddles, several were pointing their weapons at Whiskey who set her cannon down. Picking myself up of the ground I turned to Fix It, who had gotten closer while I was looking at the armored ponies. “Hey Seven,” She greeted with a friendly smile before hugging me. “I am so glad to finally find you after a week of searching this terrible land.” “It’s good to see you too Fix but how did you get here so fast?” I asked the purple unicorn while freeing myself from her grip. “Oh that I met an old friend of ours,” She said with a grin. “Wait that would mean you and me were friends before we met each at that stable,” I wondered aloud taking a closer look at her fur was still the same dark purple, same silver mane tied in a ponytail, and same red jumpsuit. I finally realized who she was when I looked into her indigo eyes. “One,” I whispered low enough that it could barely hear myself but Fix It heard it just fine, if her smile getting bigger. “Yeah that me,” she said with a smile. “And we have much to talk about,” She said with glee, I looked behind me at Whiskey who was confused by what was going on, Fix It noticed this. “I see you made a new friend, we can continue this later,” with her grin turning into a serious look she turned to the armored ponies. “Okay troops we need to look for any remnants of Hellhounds around here,” She ordered all the troops saluted and began to split into groups of four and began searching the area. I turned away from the unicorn and walked over to Whiskey, who picked up her cannon and placed it on her back once again. “Sorry about this Whiskey,” I apologised to the golden mare. “Why are you sorry?” She answered with a smirk. “Last time I checked I am the one who dragged you out here knowing that hellhounds were nearby, so if anypony should apologise its me.” “Hey Seven I can take you two back to the village if you want?” Fix It asked standing next to me. “Sounds like a plan,” Whiskey answered the silver-haired unicorn. “It is a few miles south of here.” “Great hold on,” Fix It said with excitement before a strange feeling surrounded my body and suddenly I find myself in front of Titan’s End. “Here we are everypony,” She said in a cheerful voice. “Shoot that was more fun than I thought it would be,” Whiskey exclaimed excitedly. “Come with me you two, this calls for a drink,” She said leading the way to the only bar in town. Once inside Whiskey runs off to the cellar to get some drinks from the cellar. “So what did you want to talk to be about Fix?” I asked to violet unicorn who sighed. “Do you know who your parents?” She asked me in a serious way. “No, why is that?” “I will tell you if you promise not to freak out,” I just nodded in agreement. “The reason we can’t recall our own parents is that fact we don’t have any. Seven We’re clones.” The End Of Story One