Still no word from Pinkie Pie in my head.

I’ve realized it now; the blast gave me a concussion, which disrupted my mental communication with a ditzy pony that was in my head after having collected my first statuette back in Mount Gallopmore. I’ve been thinking hard now, yet all I’ve been getting is increased sight and heightened intelligence, but still no pinkie Pie. Where is she?

I need to find a way to bring her back so I could hear her again. Even if she’s quite crazy, she’s the only ‘alive’ pony in my head. Just not physically.

As for Stable Town, I could get used to living here. However, there’s a large matter at hoof, and that’s eradicating the Cazador population. Of course, without a strong army and powerful weaponry, charging through would be suicide.

At least with Quickdraw now managing his town, it feels a little safer to stay in, but now its a matter of hiring and training a few ponies who are sworn to protect the town from future attacks. I tuned in to the radio from the jukebox as I went to wash myself while Gale Storm was asleep on the bed.

“Goood morning everypony! This is DJ Pon3 with some scientific news! Get it?

“Well, without further ado, things had been frantic so far from a near-explosive escape to a daring rescue from a scientist who also made a new discovery in acquiring a brand-new PipBuck! You won’t find it anywhere else in the Wastes, folks. He may be a grade-A nerd, but he’s not to be underestimated with! And you can bet that he can do more than just a simple math, children.

“And a reminder regarding New Hampshore; stay away as far away as possible. You do not want to become food for those ravaging insects. Rumor has it, Stable Town is the only safe haven to live in, just like in Tenpony Towers!

“All in all, let’s see how many more good ‘inventions’ this Zero fellow can offer us! Stay tuned for more! And stay safe out there, children! This has been DJ Pon3, bringing a whole new meaning of science within the Equestrian Wastelands!”

It was soon cut off with another jazzy music as I went to wash myself up. Gale fidgeted in her sleep, but soon stretching her hooves and waking herself up as she slumped off of the bed with no Enclave armor with her as usual. Much like my lab coat and Stable-replica outfit (along with the armor vest) that was taken to the cleaners. Without me knowing, Gale stood by outside the shower room, her body resting against the side of the open door, her eyes half-lidded, “Hey, Zero…”

I nearly jumped in surprise and almost fell out of the shower; can’t a scientist have a moment of privacy without another pony having to look at me like this?!

“Don’t keep an ex-Enclave waiting. Besides, you are making a name of yourself, after all.” Gale’s words were enough to-- wait... is my nose bleeding?! Fuck! Focus, damnit!

I thought we were through from this yesterday! Oh wait, that’s right; no voice! Once I finished with my awkward shower, I quickly covered myself in a fresh towel and quickly trotted off of the bathroom, doing what I can to avoid eye contact with Gale Storm, lest I end up getting a nosebleed further!

She lets out a soft yet playful scoff, “For a scientist, you sure act weird sometimes…”

Goddess-damnit!

Before me and Gale Storm left Stable 75 to get the filly and the robo-scorpion, I couldn’t help but notice the sight of her cheek that stopped bleeding from yesterday as I pointed a hoof to her cheek.

“Oh? My cheek?” Gale gently pressed her hoof against her slightly wounded cheek (which was already healed on its own), “Oh… its nothing serious, really. I deal well with minor injuries, just not severe ones.”

I gave her a nod, though I was rather worried just looking at her being hurt and all. Of course, she had gently pressed her hoof against my cheek, “Hey, don’t worry about me. I can manage well, but, its nice to see that you care about me. Just goes to show that you’re always there for us, no matter what.”

My cheeks began to flush red from her words and I simply nodded in response from her positive words. Why am I getting butterflies fluttering inside my chest for some reason? Either way, I simply smiled in thanks.

Before we went to get the two, I wrote down on my PipBuck and showed it to her, reading ‘Do you know Cloud Storm?’.

Gale’s ears fell flat.

“Oh… my sister… I saw her when we were taking Tootsie and Bob to have them fixed up. I didn’t said anything because she would scold me for joining with the Grand Pegasus Enclave with my father while my sister decided to stay as a caretaker for younger foals and fillies. Even though I was doing a great job as an Enclave soldier, I was shunned even by others and Cloud Storm as well. Now my father sent his lackeys to come looking for me and… you know the rest.” Gale explained sadly to me; I can easily relate on how I refused to return to Lab-00 after Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse were dead. What choice did I have? That I return back to my former home that brings creates more problems than solving them? Of course, she wasn’t finished.

“I don’t know if I have the courage to face my older sister after what I did… she’ll hate me deeply for this…”

I may not have siblings (likely dead anyway like my non-existent parents, even if Lightspeed was my adoptive mother which basically doesn’t count), but I seriously can’t help to hear that Gale’s sister and her soldiers - even her own father - that treated her miserably, but mostly her own soldiers that treated her like a doormat. Even if I had to speak out for her, the only thing I could do is give her a caring hug. Despite my lack of knowledge in embracing others, why would I leave her to wallow? She doesn’t deserve it! Not now, not ever!

Her response was a surprised gasp, seeing that I was reciprocating for her, “Heh… well, that makes two of us. Thanks for lighten me up a little, even if my sister would shun me for joining up with the Enclave with my father. What do you say we’ll go and get Tootsie Roll and Bob with us?”

I nodded and went out of Stable 75 with her to get the two; neither they nor Sweet Cheeks are there, but rather a Stable 75 employee who is manning the desk, “Oh, hey you two! If you’re looking for Sweet Cheeks, she went to take the filly and that umm… scorpion thing to Quickdraw’s office, so she’ll be back in ten minutes. In the meantime, she told me to give the saddlebags to you… Zero, is it?”

Yes, that’s me. And no, you’re not to make fun of my name. You don’t know where its been.

“I see. Well, can you at least tell her that we’re gonna take a visit to the Stable Clinic in Stable Town?” Gale asked a favor to the unnamed employee. He confirmed us, “Certainly! When they return, I will let them know posthaste. You take care of yourselves, and do be careful out there!”

Yesterday:

“Hey dipshits! Pick up the fucking pace, will you?!” Bleak barked at his ‘allies’. Poison groaned out a bit, “Are we there yet? We’ve been trotting for hours with no breaks! Can’t you give us a slack, oh great leader?”

He lets out an annoyed snarl at Poison, “If you want to be a whiny bitch so much, then why don’t you go back to New Hampshore? Maybe those pony-eating insects will be happy to oblige by eating you piece by piece! Otherwise, you’re sticking with me, no exceptions! Do I make it clear, you bitchy filly?!”

The Cobras said nothing save for his ‘second-in-command’ who let out a soft whine from his threats. Bleak Venom merely rolled his eyes as he cocked his shotgun, “Now, let’s keep moving and see if we can find any living fucks we can kill for a living. Any objections, and you’ll be answering with my shotgun that’ll blow your fucking heads off like fucking grapes! And if we ever, ever encounter one of those cheap alicorn knock-offs, give ‘em hell or back out like a bunch of pussies y’all are!”

As they had continued their trek throughout Mayne, Bleak took a smoke from a cigarette box before puffing, “Looks like there’s something up ahead. You fucks better arm yerselves or you’ll be digging yourselves in your graves.”

They reluctantly armed themselves to the teeth as they carefully approached towards the uncertainty ahead of them. Poison felt concerned as he wondered that his leader was only tricking them.

“Little Nightlight, huh? Well, that figures. Let’s go inside, and no buts along the way! I don’t care how big of pansies y’all can be!”

With his sharp threats and leading the Cobras with an iron hoof, he led the team inside, albeit reluctantly and afraid that Bleak Venom will kill anypony in cold blood - with no remorse as well - as they head into Little Nightlight.

Today:

‘Are you ready?’ is what I wrote from my PipBuck to Gale Storm. I’ll make sure that I stand by her side when she’ll be facing with her older sister, Cloud Storm. I need to ensure that things are kept civil, even if there’s gonna be strains between the two siblings.

With a confirmed nod, Gale replied to me:

“Yes, I’m ready. Even if Cloud Storm would yell at me, I hope she’ll forgive me for my past actions.”

Despite her uncertainty, I gave her a nod as we went inside the Stable Clinic. Cloud Storm was about to greet us before she paused at the sight of her own, younger sister, still in her Enclave armor minus her helmet, “Gale… Storm?”

Gale’s ears had immediately fallen flat from hearing her, “Hello, sister…”

“Wh..What are you doing here? Weren’t you with our dad when you were with the Enclaves? And you joined his cause… why?!” Cloud yelled out with a hint of worry and despair; this isn’t gonna end well. I can’t imagine if Ratchet is here to intervene or he’s out having his daily breakfast. Either way, I quickly looked left and right to make sure he’s not hearing this. This sibling drama’s already beginning to rise rapidly.

Gale attempted to reason with her elder sister, “I only joined because I didn’t want you to get hurt… he was forceful and wanted to join him and his lackeys just to.. to… occupy the northern region of Itrotly…”

“H-How… How could you do this?! There were innocent ponies out there, an occupation of a region is unacceptable! Do you realize what our mother would’ve told us before she died of complications with radiation that led to acute hemorrhaging in her brain?! She told us to never join our father’s cause, yet you did! Just because you defended for me, doesn’t mean you get to do what he says! I… I can’t believe you…”

Fuck… now I really wanted to speak out for Gale and reason with her older sister…

And to add insult to injury, Gale was already beginning to break out her tears with her voice starting to break, “But that’s when I realized how th-they treated me poorly! E-Even our father went against me and… and shunned me because I…” She let out an abrupt pause as her tears were showering down from her eyes, “I ran… I ran away and now… now they’re looking for me…”

“...so you could either get court martialled, or rejoin for their heinous cause? Is that what you wanted?” Cloud still scolded at her younger sibling. I just couldn’t speak. I wanted to speak out, but even my PipBuck isn’t enough. It just isn’t, and it struck me hard. Why did I brought her - and myself - into this? All I could do is keep my distance as Cloud Storm continued to scorn her younger sibling.

“Please… please if anything… I’m sorry… I just didn’t want you in this mess… all I ask now is forgiveness…” Gale was starting to softly sob as her hooves buckled down onto the floor. Now, I felt purely guilty for this…

Cloud too teared up after hearing her younger sister beg for forgiveness after realizing that she only volunteered just to spare her sister into taking care of other ponies rather than vilifying them, even going as to take over an inhabited location. She slowly trotted over to reconcile her sister, “Its okay… what you did was wrong, yet you didn’t want to bring me into our father’s heinous actions. Even after he threatened me, you stood up to be with him and nothing more. I see that now. And after the way he treated you, you wanted to change your ways…”

I slowly left the Clinic to leave the two alone. Goddesses, what the fuck was I thinking? I just downgraded myself from a smart scientist to a clueless subject. Fucking Wastelands are now just laughing behind my back because of my foolish actions. I can’t let Tootsie and Bob know; they’ll hate me for this and they’ll pin the blame on me, even going as far as to hate me and call me a pony who hurts other ponies’ feelings. Even Quickdraw will banish me from ever staying in Stable Town for eternity. I just… I just can’t!

I might as well be on my own… again! And for good measure! At least I have my sniper rifle I acquired yesterday during the rescue. All that’s left is for me to move on. And not turn back.

Please forgive me, but I caused more problems than solving it. I’m not a scientist, I’m a… an outcast!

No word of Pinkie Pie at all, but its enough for me to just move along before I cause more damage than its already worth. Just… no more! I already pinned the blame on myself, and my own consequences are banishing myself from Stable Town in order to save myself from Gale and her sister (even Tootsie Roll and Bob, and maybe Sweet Cheeks) shunning me! I deserved it anyway!

Yesterday:

“Listen up, scientists. The threat regarding the Cazadores are the most pressing and may spread further if this situation isn’t contained, so you are required for training instructed by Midnight Lancer, who will give you a debrief on your upcoming objective. And we’ve gotten word that Ranger Delta North will require ponies like you to train hard with extensive training. And believe me, it will not be as easy as researching alone. And if we don’t act now, Equestria as we know it will become the home of ravaging Cazadores.” Starshooter explained the current situation at the remaining scientist team. He wasn’t finished explaining as he turned his attention to the kitchen staff, “As for the other team, you’ll have to remain in the cafeteria for safety reasons. We’ve lost a couple of our team and we can’t risk further casualties. Understood?”

The remaining scientists and kitchen staff members alike cheered in agreement, with some expressing worry regarding Starshooter’s explanation of the dangerous situation.

Olive Oil took a slow approach to him, “What about Zero? Will he be alright?”

“We’ll have to worry about him later. Our priority is to have those Cazadores eradicated. As for him? We don’t know if Zero is alive or not, but right now, he have bigger problems in our hooves.” Starshooter replied before trotting off of the podium stand, “Scientists! Return to your posts for a debrief; Midnight Lancer will lead you scientists to training rooms for us to be combat-ready and hope New Hampshore, and all of Equestria, shall remain alive. If not, then all of ponykind will be in grave danger.” He expressed with a warning, knowing that he’s putting his remaining scientists on the line to face a far greater threat than the Wastelands itself.

“As for kitchen staff members, follow me. You’re all far too valuable to be placed in a battlefield against those ravenous insects.”

All the staff team had followed under Starshooter’s orders. They felt traumatic enough to be out there to witness their friends eaten and stung alive by them. It was a nightmare that they and their leader himself are hoping to forget.

Today:

Made it.

I made it far enough so I would unintentionally revert my lonesome ways. And I felt that Gale Storm and the others would hate me, all because I brought her to Stable Clinic to meet up with her older sister. Boy, that was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. And to think such a promise I made to her turned out to be a one, big lie. A lie that stabbed me in the back hard. And in fact, everything is a goddess-damned lie! I made Gale become emotional, and its all my fault!

I might as well confront Dr. Scalpel and his ‘creation’ myself and kill him for all the wrong he caused to not only my two, previous friends, but to myself as well. I may be alive and well, but I’m sure as well was dead on the inside ever since. I turned my head back, looking on as my ears fell flat, knowing that my current friends and Stable Town’s residences will never forgive me for this… but its too late. I have to move on. I have to.

As for the area I’m in, I’m looking at an overhead sign that’s barely hanging on against a worn-out metal pole:

Yeah, there’s ‘happiness’ alright; its filled with misery and despair as far as my PipBuck can tell, with a couple of red blips displayed on the E.F.S. to go for. Yay me.

Most of the picnic tables were derelict, with some being broken off in half. There’s a couple of metal boxes leaning against the rocky wall, three unopened sacks tucked underneath the picnic tables… and lots of elevation changes due to the hilly and uneven terrain. I need to keep my head in the game; I don’t see any enemies so far, but I need to keep my guard up.

I felt my ears starting to twitch around as I scanned the area in Little Nightlight. Nopony here so far, but I can only assume that these ponies are using StealthBucks and using cliffs as sniper perches. Even without Pinkie Pie in my head, my senses are still sharp enough to detect hidden dangers. I just can’t go around and shoot at nopony; its a waste of time and ammo.

Looks like I’m arriving at a cliff, and I can see a couple of ponies down bel-- wait… no… these are the same ponies who had their leader execute the unnamed pony while we were traversing through an abandoned shopping centre back in New Hampshore! Wha… what the actual fuck are they doing here?! I quickly crouched down and observed at least five of them trekking along the isolated campsite. I didn’t go over the edge of the cliff as to not risk myself of both falling off and being spotted by them.

I wonder what they’re talking about from down below…

“Poison, if I ever hear you bitch about Little Nightlight again, I’ll skewer you like a living pig you are!” Bleak Venom threatened him, with Poison letting out a gulp and kept himself quiet regarding Little Nightlight. One of his ‘henchpony’ pointed up above a cliff to the right (though not at me, thankfully, but rather a large, pony figure), “Bleak, I spotted something from up above!”

Huh? A ‘something’? Well, at least he’s not pointing at me.

Something’s odd about that figure, though… my PipBuck didn’t detected an extra hostile, but my eyesight proves that this ponified figure is anything but ordinary. I glanced back down to the group as Bleak noticed the figure before it soon vanished, “What the fuck?! Looks like we’re not seeing things for once… eyes up, Cobras!”

What the--? It vanished?! There’s no high humidity, and even I wasn’t hallucinating! Something isn’t right here…

Soon, a pseudo-alicorn teleports directly in front of the Cobras as they jump back in surprise, save for Bleak Venom who spat his cigarette off of his mouth, “What the fuck are you supposed to be, eh?”

An alicorn?! No, it can’t be! Only Luna, Celestia and Cadance (and Twilight, I think?) are the only true alicorns in Equestria! This one is… is a replica of it, a dark purple color with a sinister look!

And I have an unnerving feeling that this alicorn is far from being all alone.

“What brings you here, mortals? Have you deviated yourselves into our own little sanctuary? Or have you arrived in Little Nightlight as to declare you our slaves?!” She let out a menacing grin from her booming, threatening voice. This is not gonna end well…

Apart from Poison (who had wisely gallopped behind a large boulder), Bleak and the others let out a laugh at her threats.

“Pfft, as if! If you think we’re gonna bow down and beg for mercy to some cheap, alicorn knock-off like yourself, you sure are stupid enough to be running your mouth like that! Even Tirek would make your kind a living joke!” Bleak reiterated with the purple-colored alicorn. He sure has a deathwish, doesn’t he? And I’m so glad that I’m not in the middle!

“Is that so? And what makes you think that Tirek is of any threat to us in Equestria? As far as we know, Tirek is currently imprisoned with no means of escape; his threat proves very little to us and your little theory is all but flawed!” The pseudo-alicorn had soon laughed maniacally, having countered Bleak’s false statement as he lets out an annoyed growl, “You’re still a cheap knock-off that’s all talk and no action! You’re still a living joke!”

“Perhaps. But are YOU any better? If Tirek were to surpass us, then we wouldn’t stand a chance. But for now, you foolish mortals have sealed your fates!”

Four more of her kind had soon teleported directly in front of him and the others as Bleak hesitantly floated up his shotgun in front of her, “Don’t fucking test me! I can take all of you knock-offs and show you why I’ll take over Tirek’s powers and become the most powerful pony you cheapskates has ever lived!”

The Cobras had soon yelled and charged towards the alicorns, whilst Poison made a hasty escape. Bleak Venom soon watched in disbelief as the pseudo-alicorns fired off deadly magic, spearing through his lackeys and killing them instantly, “W-What the..?! Y..You… you won’t intimidate me that easily!”

BRRRAM!!

The shot was proven fruitless as the pseudo-alicorn easily teleported away from the gunfire before teleporting back behind him as the alicorns soon formed a circle and surrounding the Cobra leader, “You were saying about calling US ‘cheap knock-offs’, pony?! Maybe when you’re in Tartarus with Tirek after we kill you, you’ll be savoring your demise by him over and over again!”

And this is the part where I will be making my quick leave before they’ll eventually discover my location. No point in saving Bleak Venom or even kill him for myself; he’s a dead pony anyway.

“I’ll most likely laugh at my own death! And I’ll be laughing at your poor attempts at playing pretend! Once I took care of Tirek, he’ll be wishing he wouldn’t be torturing me in a repetitive fashion, you feeble-minded, princess-wannabe fucks!” Despite Bleak’s attempts at refuting them, the pseudo-alicorns weren’t intimidated at even the slightest as one of them fired a powerful, magical shot at his shotgun, disintegrating it instantly before the other dangerously spoke to him in a deathly manner, “Goodbye.”

Bleak’s realization that the alicorns weren’t as easily intimidated as the Raiders would came too late as the purple-colored fired off deadly, magical blasts en masse, disintegrating the unfortunate Cobra leader into ashes. Thus, Bleak Venom was no more. As for me? I was fortunate enough to realize that these alicorns have a strong bloodlust and are out to kill anypony who trespass into Little Nightlight, and I’m next! I have to get out of here ASAP!

Two red blips popped up from the E.F.S. as two green-colored alicorns showed up blocking my only exit (yet they left the entrance wide open). Fucking damnit! I quickly skid to a stop and hid behind an overthrown picnic table as I saw my exit blocked by the duo. Great… at least on the plus side, they won’t detect my non-existent magical energy. I’m just a mere Earth pony with no unique abilities! Need to think hard on finding a way of sneaking past through them without being spotted…

Earlier today:

As the two had reconciled together, Gale Storm felt something amiss, “Zero? Where did you--” She gasped in shock when she saw that I wasn’t with her, “Zero?!”

“Wait, wasn’t he with you?” Her sister asked with a concerned expression. Gale nodded to her, “Yes, he was. He’d never run off like that, much less on his own without telling me! Sister, please tell me you have a device that can track down his PipBuck!”

Cloud didn’t shared her panicked expression like her younger sister before heading to the back room, “I do happen to have a PipBuck detector somewhere, though its mainly a prototype and there’s no guarantee that it might work. The real one is under development, but if you do want to rescue your friend, I’ll see if I can get this prototype to work with a magical device we retrieved from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.”

“Please do so.” Gale muttered to herself, “Zero, why did you run… all I wanted was to say thank you…” It wasn’t long before Tootsie Roll and Bob arrive inside accompanied by Sweet Cheeks, “Yoo-hoo! We’re baaack! Where did Zero go, playing hide and seek without us?”

Gale shook her head with a sad sigh, “No. He’s not. He ran off and hasn’t returned. And no, I didn’t said mean stuff to him, he just… ran off…”

“What?! But he’s a scientist, he never runs away!” Tootsie proclaimed before Sweet Cheeks glanced around for a moment, “You know, that Enclave fellow is right; I haven’t seen him anywhere. This isn’t like him, is it?”

“No… I’m not sure if its something what I said. But even if it was my fault, he gave me the courage to speak with my sister; now I have to return the favor for him. For a scientist, him running away like this only creates more problems for Zero, and I have to find and rescue him…” Gale let out a soft sigh.

“But what about us?! Can’t we go as well?!” As Tootsie offered, Cloud returned with the working prototype on hoof before Gale would answer the filly, “Gale, I got it to work! However, use it with great care; it only lasts for ten hours before its deactivated. Your friend is located far south from here so wear this so you may be able to track him.”

Gale nodded to her sister as she straps it around her hoof, “Thank you very much, Cloud. I’ll see if I can pinpoint Zero’s location.”

Cloud explained to her younger sibling, “Its not advanced as it looks, but its sure to detect any PipBucks depending on location. Of course, there aren’t many working PipBucks in Equestria so you might be lucky to find only one. There’s no map displayed so you’ll have to rely on the blip shown on the interface to find him. If you do intend on finding him, then please be careful out there; not just from the damned creatures in the Wastelands, but also the Grand Pegasus Enclave that are looking for you now. I’m counting on you...”

“I will. Tootsie, Bob, would you like to come?” Gale glanced at the blip which displays a white dot inside the interface, facing right. Primitive, but effective.

Tootsie nods with excitement as both she and Bob gave her a salute, “Yes, not-so-evil-Enclave ma’am!”

She let out a soft giggle before waving a hoof to her sister, “We’ll be going now. And thank you for your forgiveness.”

“Its not a problem. Now, go and rescue your friend. If you find him, tell him to return back to Stable Town, okay?” Cloud asked a favor for her younger sibling in which she gave her a confirmed nod.

“Right, then. Let’s go, you two!” Gale left the clinic as she sprouted her wings as to airlift both Tootsie Roll and Bob as Sweet Cheeks shouted, “Please do be careful out there!”

“We will!” Tootsie informed the Overmare. With that, their rescue mission begins.

Note to self:

Never run away when there’s probably tens of hundreds of pony-murdering alicorns on your FUCKING own! Never again!

Easy for you to say, pony mind! I barely managed to escape from the alicorns, which now makes my quick escape extremely difficult! Not to mention that Bleak Venom’s already dead at the hooves of those purple-colored alicorns. Fuck, I hate to be that pony.

If I even open fire at them, they would’ve noticed and teleport directly in front of me, thus catching me off guard! I could throw objects as a means of distraction, but what good will that do when these alicorns probably know where I am right now?!

I only have two options; either stupidly charge through alicorns to my death or venture myself inside the cave and hopefully find an exit without inadvertently running into them again.

Running into the cave it is. If anything, I have to stay alive and keep myself hidden from alicorns. Turning on the flashlight from the PipBuck, I saw corpses… or ashes, to put it loosely, of what remains of mostly living ponies. Ugh, and its stuffy inside too.

On the plus side, the PipBuck’s map is still visibly displayed so all I need to do is follow a designated path that’ll take me to the exit of Little Nightlight and hopefully not having to end up meeting with killer alicorns.

There’s nothing interesting inside as well; no food, no water, and pretty much no medical boxes. Speaking of water though, I glanced to the left and saw a large, Stable door that’s been left ajar, but it was completely caved in with no means of getting in at all. Figures as such. Stable 13 is pretty much nothing on the inside except boulders. All that was left was a spray tag next to 13, making it look like a -13. Somepony must’ve been bored.

My eyes batted at the intact canteen lying on the ground in front of an inaccessible Stable facility. Even though I do have some purified water in me, I guess a taste of an unused Stable 13 canteen won’t hurt. After all, the number 13 does signify ‘good luck’. (Hence the sarcasm.)

Well, bottom’s up!

Glug. Glug. Glug.

Huh… much better than any Purified Water would. I slightly jumped back in surprised when the canteen emitted its bright blue magic aura around it, soon refilling fresh water on its own. Holy--! It replenished on its own!

Convenient enough, I’m just gonna keep it for myself and give the Purified Water bottles to my friends; they’ll need it more than I do.

Now to continue along with the designated path inside the catacombs where red blips are still present form E.F.S., except they’re not inside but outside. I basically delayed the inevitable yet again; if I was a unicorn, I would’ve teleported my sorry ass out of Little Nightlight. Of course, that’s an alicorn’s job and Goddess help me if I saw one directly in front of me.

All while sufficing a quick meal of carrots in my saddlebags, I spotted an opening that - hopefully - doesn’t lead me to murderous alicorns.

“Are we there yet? Better yet, is Zero gonna be okay?” Tootsie asked while riding along Gale’s back with Bob hanging on. Gale was carefully scanning around the area, looking at the PipBuck detector as it was showing a white, yet grainy dot shown from the interface, “Barely. I think he went underground, though its dangerous for us to fly low because we have alicorns below us.”

Tootsie Roll took a weary peek, her eyes squinting as she could only see blurry dots teleporting in different directions, “You mean those thingies that are going all over the place?”

“Yes, those. I’ll fly us a little lower so I might find Zero easily. Hold on!”

Gale had soon lowered the flight altitude to get a better view, also being careful as to not be spotted by artificial alicorns for a better view to look for me. I’m still well-hidden in a cave, but I can see a vaguely bright light ahead of me from a steep path along the way.

Finally, a way out!

I don’t see any teleporting alicorns so far, but an alternative exit is a must for my hasty escape. Instead, I spotted a trio of green-colored alicorns, all with their shields at the ready. The sniper rifle I have has no ability to penetrate through their shields and even if they don’t have shields, they can react to gunfire quicker than my own Pinkie sense.

My best option is to find and objects and hurl them at things as a means of distracting them while making my move. I’m not sure how smart they are, but they shouldn’t be this smart enough from getting distracted.

There’s a hoof-ful of strewn objects next to the cave entrance/exit. And three, different-colored alicorns patrolling around the area. Hopefully if they don’t see me throwing stuff at them, I could sneak past by them, though this isn’t gonna be easy!

As my mind spoke, I glanced at the map to see that I'm slightly farther away from that one and only exit of Little Nightlight; everything else has been barricaded with no other way out of here. I scooped up a rusted tin can to hurl it in the air. The tin can lets out a soft clang once it landed on a large boulder from a distance which drew attention of the three.

“Who’s there?” One of the green-colored alicorns spoke out. They took a careful approach at the source of the sound as I quickly gallopped through, but also being careful as to not make too much noise. Their shields are still up, but are distracted enough for me to sneak past them before they would eventually figure something out. Fuck, that was close…

I glanced up in the dark skies, spotting what appears to be a pony figure flying up above of Little Nightlight. My PipBuck even picked up three, green blips from E.F.S.

Wait… Gale Storm?! Why is she looking for me?! I’ve already created problems weighing down my shoulders earlier today so why is she and the other two are looking for me? To maybe lecture me, call off all communication, or even consider me as her enemy?! Oh great. Now I have both problems coming my way; trying to make my escape from Little Nightlight and having Gale Storm put her own life on the line with Tootsie Roll and Bob with her. And maybe getting a lecture from Gale herself.

Fucking goddess-dammit all! Now I have more of those damned alicorns up ahead with no other path to take except in front! Does the Wastelands have their sick amusement in pitting me against these near-unstoppable alicorns, or even make my life a living hell?!

Up above, Gale carefully lowered her altitude to get a better view though it wasn’t long before the alicorns took flight and began their pursuit to them, some with their shields down. Oh goddess no…

“Gale, those scary-looking alicorns are chasing us!” Tootsie clings her small fore-hooves around her neck as Bob emitted his alarming beeps. She glances down and spotted the alicorn pursuers chasing them, “Oh fuck! We need to get to the ground and fast!”

I witnessed magical energies being fired off of their horns in an effort to take out Gale Storm. I quickly pulled my sniper rifle and sat myself down on the ground and took an aim at one of the five alicorns pursuing them. The last thing I wanted was to see them getting hurt. Even with Gale’s twin Plasma Rifles in her arsenal, these alicorns are fast and deadly as they can dodge through most of the gunfire but not while they’re distracted.

I was still able to enter S.A.T.S. and all I need to do is shoot their wings to at least slow their pursuit. I only have a 50% chance or less on the wings so I need to make my shots count and hope to not miss. One for each wing; three will have to do.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

My first shot was a miss, but the other two shots were enough to pierce through each of those damned alicorns’ wings and slowing them down for a good moment. Of course though, this only led to this; one of the unharmed alicorns ordered another to pursue me! Can’t the Wastelands ever give me a goddess-damned break?!

“Come here, little pony!” Her hooves extended forward and her horn lighting up with magic as I backpedalled and barely ducked down from the magical discharge towards me. She zoomed right past by me and turned around to fly towards me again. I hastily performed a throat slit gesture by sliding my hoof across my throat which in turn aggravates the dark blue-colored alicorn and forcing her to turn invisible, but not before slipping myself into S.A.T.S. to get a clear view of her before she would be fully invisible. I should go bare-hoofed for this, going for her foreleg and her wing to slow her down. Here goes!

THWAP! POW!

“Gah! Leg hurt!” The alicorn’s invisibility was thwarted once I managed to cripple her hoof as she came tumbling down to the ground. Soon other alicorns took notice and instead gave chase to me despite gaining a small advantage on the three, with Gale’s wings receiving superficial burns which made her slow down. Fuck, I don’t think S.A.T.S. will have enough time to regenerate! Damnit, I’m getting outnumbered quickly!

“Gale, are you okay! Your wings are hurt! Bob tried, but there’s so many of those scary-looking alicorns!”

Gale gave the filly a confirmed nod, “I’ve had worst injuries, but right now we need to help out Zero! Hold on tight!”

Bob was nearly thrown off of her back as he lets out a beep-like yelp and clings his claw onto her armored tail as she fired off a couple of Plasma Rifle rounds on the alicorns.

PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!!

A couple of Alicorns were gunned down whilst they were focused on chasing me, save for the green-colored alicorns who still have their shields up. I was galloping like mad to find some cover after not being ready to wield my sniper rifle at them! Fuck, they can’t catch a break!

And these damned green-colored alicorns won’t lower their shields for once! If only I had magical weapons that can negate their effect, or ammunition that can penetrate their shields and kill them altogether!

Bleak Venom deserved to die (because he’s that much of an asshole), but there’s no way I’m letting them hurt my friends!

Turning myself from cover, I took aim at the charging alicorns fired off a couple of shots while S.A.T.S. is still recharging.

BLAM! BLAM!

Fuck, I don’t have time to reload! Luckily, they crash landed onto the ground after being shot but my ears twitched erratically as another alicorn barely lunged at me as I recoiled myself back and pinning myself against a rock wall. I scrambled myself to get more sniper ammo before the shielded alicorn took a dangerous approach towards me, just when I had finished reloading. Of course, that damned shield is fucking impenetrable and I can do nothing about it! If I fire off, it’ll simply deflect my shots!

The green-colored alicorn had soon inadvertently lowered her shield as she charged up magic from her horn (I would say now’s my chance, but firing off a shot will result in raising her shield again), “Bye-bye, you dumb-dumb!”

“No you don’t!” Gale lunged the green-colored alicorn with enough force to strike her back. Tootsie Roll and Bob quickly got off of her with the robo-scorpion letting out a dazed beep while trying to keep himself balanced.

Before I could check on the two, I quickly rushed over to Gale who was wrestling with the green-colored alicorn, her shield still down. It seems Gale doesn’t have the time to reload (unlike me as I did reloaded) before skidding to a stop and aimed down the sniper rifle again, taking careful aim as for me to not shoot her by accident. The last thing I would want is a friendly fire.

She turned to me while pinning the alicorn as the green-colored one was charging up her magic, “Don’t wait any longer; shoot her before unleashes her magic to bring me down!”

My twitching ears are right; need to make it count or Gale will be gravely hurt, or worse! Wrapping my tongue around the trigger, I took a careful aim at the goddess-damned, unrealistic alicorn…

BLAM!

The bullet drove deep into the alicorn’s abdomen, hitting one of the vital organs inside for her to scream and writhe in pain as she soon succumbed to her death. Gale had quickly gotten off the fallen alicorn. She was going to say thanks but time is short as more red blips popped up on the E.F.S. with more alicorns heading our way, “No time to celebrate; let’s head somewhere so we can regroup and figure things out…”

“Okey-dokey-wokey! Let’s get out of here before more alicorn baddies arrive!”

No rest for the wicked, I suppose…

THWACK! THUD!

“What the hell was that for, huh?! Why did you run off on your own like that, Zero?! Especially when the Wastelands will only bring you even more harm!” Gale yelled out after I received the unofficial beatdown from her. Maybe because it was my fault from getting you overly emotional over your older sister scolding at you? At least Tootsie Roll and Bob aren’t watching or hearing this after she diverted them somewhere in the cave for the two to have fun while I end up getting the punishment from the ex-Enclave.

My face was battered and bruised from her actions yet I didn’t want to retaliate; I caused the problem for not just myself, but to her as well. She gave me a teary look before giving me a third and final smack to the face from her hoof as her voice began to break again, “Don’t do this to me… don’t do this to yourself, or the others! Tell me, why did you run?! Is it because my sister Cloud yelled at me for what I caused, yet forgave me for this in the end?! You running away only had caused more problems than solving it! You’re a scientist, for fuck’s sake! You should know better than to run away from me or the others, especially those who are in dire need of help! How would you like that if somepony you’d care about ran away from you?!”

I merely shook my head. She was right, and I was wrong to run off like this… all I could do is allow a tear from my eye to trickle down to my bruised cheek. I didn’t want to fight back; for a smart scientist pony like myself, I made a grave and foolish mistake, even if it was the right thing to do to get her to reconcile with her older sister. I’m expecting yet another beatdown from Gale yet she gave me a caring, heartwarming embrace, “Please, Zero… stay with us. My sister may have forgiven me, but now I expect the same from you. You running off like that only hurts me more than my sister would lecture me for ever joining up with the Grand Pegasus Enclave with my father…”

She then presented me with a device on her hoof, “This is the PipBuck detector my sister gave me, to look for you. At least you’re alive, but when we return to Stable Town, I’m afraid I’ll have to discipline you because of your actions. Just… just at least promise us you won’t do it again. Please…?”

I let out a solemn sigh once she told me that I’m gonna be given a disciplinary action from her, even if security is lackluster in Stable Town. My only response was returning the embrace around Gale as more tears from my single eye began to flow down to my cheeks. Goddesses, what was I thinking…

Gale softly smiled at my embrace as she wiped away the tears both herself and me, “I’ll take your hug as a yes… now, pony up and let’s get ourselves out of here.”

I gave her a confirmed nod, hopefully my punishment won’t be too severe when we return after escaping Little Nightlight.

Outside, reinforcements are arriving and are shocked to witness their fellow alicorns having fallen mainly from gunshot wounds. One of the purple-colored alicorns yelled out, “Find killers, get heads!”

It seems these reinforcements are the least intelligent beings there is, but their powers are still quite deadly. We need to be careful for this one as security of Little Nightlight had sharply increased.

“Let’s go and get Tootsie Roll and Bob; we’ll have to navigate our way into the catacombs.” Gale released her forelegs as I gave her a confirmed nod. We went to get the two, but Tootsie took a glance at my bruised face, “Zero, why is your face all bruised up? Did those alicorn baddies hurt you?!”

She clarified this by clearing her throat, “Not exactly, filly. We were just… talking to each other! No alicorns here and whatnot, hehe.”

For a scatterbrained filly, Tootsie Roll wasn’t buying Gale’s story regarding her sparring with me, “Are you suuuure? His face looks battered up!”

Some ponies are easy to lie to, but when you lie to a filly, it seems both of us are inadvertently causing problems than solving it, even if I was the main cause. My pony mind spoke out and still no Pinkie Pie in my head. Gale felt uneasy from her failed lie as she then spoke truthfully to the filly, “I’ve… been roughing Zero up a bit… nothing personal, really.”

Bob let out a confused beep, whirring to Tootsie as if wondering what Gale meant.

“Well… okey-dokey-wokey! You’re a soldier, after all! Or should I say, not-baddie soldier!”

Gale lets out a small giggle and motioned her head as we left to find an alternative exit out of Little Nightlight.

Even with the flashlight on from my PipBuck, there’s barely any visibility inside the caves so all I had to do is sit myself down in a meditating stance and began to think hard. Before my friends would find out what I was doing, my mind starts to become clear again, my eyesight becoming sharper than before. I can see different paths now!

“Zero, what’s going on?”

My only answer was getting up to my hooves and pointed it at the left side of the direction before motioning them to follow me, galloping along the path.

“Hey, wait for us!” Gale followed me with Tootsie and Bob catching up. Tootsie glances up to her, “I bet Zero found an exit! Hopefully he’ll lead us away from alicorn baddies!”

Hopefully so, as the E.F.S. hasn’t detected any red blips yet, but its only a matter of time before we reach the surface yet again. We need to make our escape, even if I’ll be disciplined by Gale Storm.

Up ahead, we saw another, vaguely-bright light from the exit of the cave. To my surprise, no alicorns are found on sight! This could be our only chance out of this hellhole, and with no shielded alicorns guarding the exit! Fuck, I almost forgot; there are invisible alicorns hidden directly in front of us. No wonder E.F.S. can’t pick up anything!

I motioned to Gale and Bob to keep a watchful eye out for any invisible alicorns that are still guarding the exit. Gale was confused at first, but even she felt uneasy of this as she armed her Plasma Rifles from her battle saddle, “You have a good point there. Something’s not right, ears up, ponies.”

My ears twitched softly; silent and unseen hoofsteps coming our way. Without thinking twice, I reached my tongue around the trigger of the sniper rifle before pulling it whilst aiming at the specific direction.

BLAM!

The shot was a success without S.A.T.S. as the invisible alicorn was shot through and collapsed to the ground, negating her invisibility spell in the process. Thank you very much, Pinkie sense!

“Whoa! H-How did you know she was there?! We couldn’t find anypony that’s guarding the exit!”

Tootsie giggles playfully as she turned to Gale (save for Bob who was emitting confused, beeping noises), “That’s because Zero has the pink pony statue thingy with him! It makes him sense things that doesn’t exist!”

It wasn’t long before the second, invisible alicorn relinquished her invisibility and began to charge towards us. (In a total, careless manner of course.)

As she charged toward us, we engaged the alicorn in a firing squad as the filly simply blew raspberries; the alicorn stood no chance due to her recklessness and allowing the window of opportunity to open wide for our hasty escape. Gale could hear commotion from a far distance, “Shit, we have to get out of here, and fast, before they’ll start looking for us!”

Good idea. We hurriedly galloped our way out of this goddamn hellhole before the alicorns would figure out what happened.

“Babs Seed was formally suspended from Stable-Tec from her irrational behavior. Not sure why, but she’ll need a proper evaluation as the Cutie Mark Crusaders had agreed to give her proper re-evaluation before she is to work with Stable-Tec again. Otherwise, we’ll have to monitor her activities to reduce the risk of causing problems among our Stable-Tec staff members.

“We’re worried that she may have been psychologically traumatized as a young filly when other foals had bullied her repeatedly, resulting in her questionable emotions being shown. She also seemed to have a detest for Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, mentioning that Babs Seed would wish that she was the head of Stable-Tec. Too bad it didn’t turned out as planned.

“We also had word from the Crystal Empire that they’re establishing at least three new Stables 131, 100 and 65. However, word that Princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor was either gone or under King Sombra’s spell and...

“Crystal Empire was left to ruin. Everypony was now distant to one another, even some were rebellious, with the inhabitants calling themselves the Crystal Raiders or something, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. They went rogue ever since.

“As for Babs Seed herself? We’ll have to start monitoring closely to her. I fear that her behavior is starting to change…”

Babs Seed? Crystal Raiders? Well, shit.

Once the recording is finished, I began to think while sitting near a campfire after our hectic escape from Little Nightlight:

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were either dead or under King Sombra’s spells, using them as slaves. And as for Crystal Empire, I have no fucking clue where it is. Rumor has it that it usually appears ever thousands of years or less. The same can’t be said for their inhabitants, however. If we do ever find those ‘Crystal Raiders’, then this will be a whole new challenge the Wastelands will throw at me with everything it has.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we’ll be returning to Stable Town unharmed. Gale Storm had already declared punishment against me from what I’ve done. I wonder what Celestia would think of me right now after what I’ve done.

Back to Stable Town we go, and face my well-deserved punishment…

Footnote: Level Up.
No New Perk.
Quest Perk Added: Blind Luck -- Your are blind but not doomed. During combat, your luck is boosted to +10.