The beginning to an adventure is always the most important piece to any legend. The heroes embark on a grand quest because of some great need or terrible fate that will befall their home if they don't find some major treasure. It's a common trope for these kinds of stories, after all.

Our own story, well it's not quite a legend. Not yet at least. But this is how it began all the same. Take it for what you will, but after that day, our entire world changed.

After that day, I found myself wishing I hadn't gotten up at all that morning.

“Mom?” I called out from my room. I turned to my bed where my work barding rested and began to slip it on. I was scheduled for another security watch shift and I was almost late. “Mom? I'm headed out. Do you need me to pick up anything on my way home?”

“I think we're good,” my mother's voice came from down the stairs. “Let your brother know not to dawdle on his way home, alright? He's got chores to handle, and training after that.”

I sighed. “I will. Thanks, Mom.”

I finished slipping into my barding and made my way downstairs past our living quarters. Mom smiled and waved on my way out. It was... strange seeing her so happy. For a good portion of our lives, Mom had always been so serious about everything. So much of our time was spent training and working underneath her that she almost wasn't really Mom. She was Patch. A legend in her own right.

I pushed open the door, moving those thoughts to the back of my mind. I didn't have time for little distractions, I was already a little late for my shift. While I was relatively certain I wouldn't get in much trouble, I knew my brother Lightning would give me a little shit for being late. I was usually the more punctual of the two of us, after all. But, a long night celebrating our birthday had led to me oversleeping the morning after… this morning. I was certain my supervisor would understand. Unless Cappa was on shift. Then I was officially screwed.

The whiff of baked goods hit my nostrils as I stepped out of my living quarters. I smiled softly as I walked amidst the crowded marketplace. The settlement of Theater was small, but it was lively, and it was my home: one that I'd grown quite fond of over the years. It was based inside an old Equestrian theater that had put on all sorts of stage shows for ponies before the war. Now, it served as the base of operations for the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Mafia, a group of bakers that acted as the protectors of the city of Chicacolt in this region. Not only did they protect ponies, but they also developed food processing systems that kept everyone fed and happy.

As I trotted through the market, I waved at a few of the other ponies I knew quite well. I kept going, knowing I had no time to chat. A tap at my side caused me to stop. I turned to look at who it was.

“Bit of a rush this morning, aren’t you?” the cream colored mare said as she fell in line next to me. She wore similar barding to mine, except hers clearly marked her as an Initiate in the order of Applejack's Rangers. The familiar apple and gears icon rested proudly on her shoulder patches.

“Coconut! Long time no see, eh?” I said, smiling.

Coconut Cream Pie grinned. “You looked like you were in a bit of a hurry, I had hoped to see you at some point.”

“Yeah... I'm sort of late for my shift,” I said, grimacing. “Had a bit of a late night last night.”

“I heard, I'm sorry I missed your birthday. Where's your brother at?” Coconut asked.

“He had a pretty early shift. Say, why did you miss my birthday? I thought you were going to be there,” I said, frowning.

Coconut sighed loudly. “Yeah... we didn’t get back in until this morning. I'm really sorry, Starry.” She averted her gaze from me for a few seconds.

“Oh, no, it's no problem,” I said. “I was just wondering. Sounds like they're keeping you busy with the Rangers.”

“Sort of. I just finished my week on, now I’m on leave for a week. They can’t keep us on patrol all the time when things are this calm,” Coconut replied.

We continued our journey forward, catching up on what had happened to us in the past couple weeks that we hadn't seen each other in. Eventually our walk ended at the security station up on the top floor of Theater, where my pegasus brother was waiting.

“You're late,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. His eyes drifted over to Coconut. “Oh... h-h-hey there Coconut. You're back?”

I chuckled internally. My brother had it bad for Coconut. He knew I knew it too. There was very little between us that stayed secret. I'm pretty sure that Coconut knew too back then, it wasn't like he was subtle about his little crush.

“Hi,” Coconut replied, smiling softly.

I rolled my eyes. Would you two just get it over with already? I thought to myself.

“Yes. I'm late,” I said, interrupting my brother's doe eyed stare. “I overslept.”

“Not like you, Sis. Not like you at all,” Lightning said, grinning.

“Yes, well Mom says not to dawdle on your way home. You have some chores to do,” I said, giving a grin in return.

Lightning gulped loudly. Chores with Mom were an experience all their own, almost as bad as...

“Oh and you also have training with her afterwards,” I said, sneering. I had to get that extra little jab in there. Lightning deserved it, just a little bit.

“Great,” Lightning replied. “And why do you get to miss out on all that fun?”

“I have a shift. Which, I'm now exceedingly late for, thanks to you,” I said. I turned to Coconut. “Coco, I'm sorry we didn't get some more time to talk. If you want, we can hang out tonight after I get off my shift.”

“That's fine. I'll stop by your place later,” Coconut said. She glanced at Lightning. “Besides, I haven't seen Thunder Butt here in a while. Walk me back to the Ranger camp?”

“Buh,” Lightning replied.

Smooth, real smooth Bro, I thought, rolling my eyes. I grabbed him and pushed him towards Coconut.

“Go on then, you crazy kids get going. And don't forget to get home for chores,” I said, grinning.

Lightning rolled his eyes. “I'm going, I'm going. Don't remind me. I'm still trying to block out the last time we did chores and training in the same day. Later, blank flank.”

I growled under my breath as he and Coconut trotted off. I absolutely hated it when he called me that. Fearless Lightning Chaser, who somehow ended up with a cutie mark before I did, of three lightning bolts centered around a storm cloud no less. His special talent had to do with weather, of course. He got it when a particularly nasty storm rolled through town. It was Lightning's quick thinking in helping to create a set of lightning rods that absorbed the brunt of the storm's assault on Theater. After the storm had cleared, we were all safe and he'd gotten his cutie mark. Since then, he'd ridiculed me endlessly about how I didn't have mine yet.

Still, it wasn't my fault that I didn't know what my own talent was. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life yet. I was content learning and training under Mom, and I figured if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. My godmother, Radiant Star, told me that there are ponies out there that never figure out what their talent is, and never end up with a cutie mark. I sincerely hoped that wasn't my fate, but if it was, I'd make the best of it.

“Starry!” a tinny voice yelped from behind me.

I blinked. I'd been so angry and lost in my thoughts that I'd forgotten completely what I was doing. I turned around and faced my shift supervisor and smiled meekly. “Umm, hey there Cappa.”

“You're late,” Cappa Latte said. The deep brown earth mare regarded me with a curious expression. “What's up with that? You're never late. You too good to show up to work now?”

“Uh... yeah, sorry I kind of got in late last night because of our birthday celebration,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck and trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Cappa grimaced and thought for a few moments. When she spoke next, it was sickly sweet, almost as if she was completely faking it, along with her fake smile. “Alright. Don't let it happen again, okay? You're one of my best spotters. We need you up here when it's your shift time, got it? I don't care what it is, you get here on time.”

“Got it,” I said, trotting past her. “It won't happen again, I promise.”

I made my way out of her sight before she could change her mind. Cappa was prickly. She'd soon as smack the shit out of you before she gave you the time of day. She was especially hard on me, almost as if she could be construed as showing favoritism for one of the big wig's daughters. I hated her just as much as she hated me.

I sighed as I climbed up the stairs to the watch tower. It wasn't like we really needed the extra security anymore. Not since most of the bad guys in this town shipped off for greener pastures. The town we lived in, Chicacolt, used to be a pretty shitty place for lack of a better word. There used to be all sorts of bad gangs that controlled different areas of the city. There was even a cult of minotaurs that were devoted to the teachings of a prewar assertiveness instructor named Iron Will. In those days, the MMMM were just struggling to survive, fighting amongst each other and trying their best to stop one another from having control of the faction.

That all changed when my Mom and Radiant Star came through the town. It's the same old story that Mom likes to tell to us. Radiant Star helped unify the MMMM, enforcing their loyalty to Gluttony, the leader of the group. Since then, the MMMM was instrumental in defeating several of the larger gangs in the city. As of late, there was not much activity on any front in MMMM territory. Things were, well... good. It was almost as if the gangs had just stopped trying. Even the Cult of Iron Will had closed its doors tight after a while.

Since then, things around Theater were... well, boring. There were no raiders to watch out for, no psycho minotaurs, hell even the radiation had begun magically clearing up one day. Life was good. So of course that made my job feel kind of worthless. I felt like I was just going through the motions.

I sat up in the watch tower for a good several hours, watching the skyline of the city. I sighed loudly.

“Screw murals,” I said aloud, more to myself than to anypony that could possibly hear me. “This place needs a good kick in the pants.”

Of course, I was by myself. I groaned and put my head down in my hooves in boredom. By all accounts, I should have been happy with boredom. Boredom meant nothing bad was happening. Boredom meant that I got to go home at the end of the day and issue a report of how absolutely nothing tried to attack our settlement.

So why then... why then did I not feel happy about it? Why didn't I feel good about the fact that life was easy? I had everything I ever wanted really, except for my cutie mark. I had family, I had friends, love wasn't hard to find either. So why did I feel so... restless? It didn't make any sense.

I decided to try and amuse myself by trying to play a game of 'I Spy', which gets old really quickly when you're the only one playing. As it turns out, you win a lot. I spied a lot of little things. Gray buildings, gray streets, gray lamp posts. Why in the hell in the ponies of the past like the color gray so much? I groaned loudly, banging my head against the wall. There was nothing out there. Nothing interesting at all. Except for the bleeding pony running up the street... wait, what?

I jumped to the window, pulling out my binoculars with a flick of my magic. Yes, there was indeed a pony running up the street towards Theater. He wasn't running very fast, in fact he was kind of... limping. He didn't look so good.

My eyes widened. I had to tell somepony! Maybe this was the break I'd been waiting for! I nearly cried out for joy before I realized that I had yet to sound my alarm. I reached out with my magic and pulled down hard on the device, which started blaring. Within mere seconds, Cappa Latte was climbing the stairs up to my tower.

“What is it?” she asked. “This better not be another prank or so help me...”

I blinked. “Umm, no prank, Cappa. There's a pony up the street on his way in. He looks hurt. Somepony should go and help him.”

“Really? That's what you called me up here for? Some random pony who needs help?” Cappa said flatly.

“Well, isn't that what we're supposed to be doing? Helping the common pony folk and all?” I asked, growling under my breath as I did. I couldn't believe Cappa was pulling this shit. That pony out there needed help, and she wasn't even going to bat an eye or say a word about it.

“Oh, well if you want to go help him, I won't say nothing,” Cappa replied casually. “I'll just have to dock your pay a little, is all.”

Bitch! I thought to myself. I grimaced. “Fine. If you don't care about him, I'm going to get him and bring him in.” I trotted past my shift supervisor and stopped at the door. “And Cappa?”

“What?” she turned to glare at me.

“You will not be docking my pay for this. Don't you forget who my mother is,” I said angrily. I slammed the door and left before she could issue a retort. I didn't want to hear her shit, anyways. Mom would give me the rigamaroo later on about how I was supposed to be respecting my elders later on and then secretly praise me for doing the right thing. That was how it happened every time I mouthed off to Cappa.

I made my way quickly and quietly down to the side service entrance of Theater and pushed open the door, grumbling about Cappa and about life in general. The fresh air hit me like a ton of bricks on the chest. Ever since that day the radiation started cleaning up, the air in our area of the world had felt much cleaner. I took a deep breath, cleared my thoughts of Cappa, and kept moving.

I trotted down the street where I had last seen the injured pony, keeping an eye out for any movement. I stopped briefly, listening to the wind like Mom had tried to hammer into our heads all those years. Once I was relatively certain I wasn't being followed, I kept moving. It didn't take me long before I found him. The closer I got, the funnier he looked. Then I realized he wasn't a pony. He was a zebra. I had never really seen a zebra before, but Mom had shown us pictures of them.

I quickly assessed his situation. He was slumped against the rubble of a wall sitting off a nearby abandoned building, and he appeared to be in pretty bad shape. Blood seeped redly from what looked like gunshot wounds across his right side. His head hung low, and he wasn't moving, but he did seem to be breathing still. I trotted up next to him and poked at him to try and get him to come around.

“Hey, are you alright? Can you hear me?” I asked softly. No response. I grimaced. If he was really hurt, he could have passed out. I was not a medical pony, and I had no idea how to help him if he was going to just die before I could get him to safety. I had no clue what to do. I did the only logical thing I could do. I panicked.

“Shit,” I uttered out loud. “Shit shit shit.” I had to do something! I was out here trying to help this poor zebra, all out in the open where anypony could...

Shit. I was apparently not very smart either. I thought back to some of the stuff Mom drilled into our heads. This whole thing could have been a trap, it could have been intended to get the drop on somepony who has the ability to get into Theater. Somepony of importance. Somepony like the head chairpony's daughter. Somepony like me.

I coughed under my breath, taking a moment to compose myself. There was no sense getting all panicky. I just needed to call this in on my PipBuck's broadcaster. If I could get through to Mom, they could get out quickly and find me before...

*BLAM*

A gunshot ripped through the air, barely missing my head as it slammed into the wall behind me. My eyes shrunk to pinpoints as I glanced up, following the path the bullet had come from. I couldn't see who had made the shot. That made things all the more worse. Shit. This was a trap. And I fell for it! Not only that, I was a complete bitch to Cappa over it too. I could hear her in my head, gloating over my coffin.

“I told her not to go, and she wouldn't listen!” is what she would say. She'd be happy about it too. Happy that I was, for all intents and purposes, no longer with the living.

*BLAM* *BLAM*

Two more shots hit the wall behind me, forcing me to dive over the wall behind the unconscious zebra. Whoever was shooting at me didn’t have a very good aim. I had to try and use that to my advantage, if I even had such a thing in this kind of confrontation. It's not like I fought snipers every week or something. I only tried to remember what Mom had told me about dealing with them.

“If you're in the open, find cover immediately. Being in the open means you're dead. Plain and simple.”

“Try and seek out a vantage point where you can see your enemy and they can't see you. This is hard, but doable. Even the best snipers have blind spots.”

I sighed. There was no way I was going to be able to take out this sniper myself, even if I did try and get beneath his line of fire. I cursed myself for being so stupid. I had been so tired of restless watch duty that when the first time something actually did happen, I was going to get myself killed for it.

“Can anypony hear me?” I said aloud, kicking on my PipBuck's broadcaster. “This is Starry Night, requesting assistance. Can anypony hear this?”

Static. I must have been way out of range. How far did I actually walk to find the zebra? I didn't even remember. I was stuck, and there was no help. I peeked my head out from behind the rubble. Far in the distance, I could see my attacker. He had stood up, either confident that he had either killed me already or confused that I had managed to elude him. What confused me even more was the fact that he was a minotaur.

He was young looking, but very muscular. His yellow eyes scanned the horizon. I couldn't tell how old he really was. However, his attire was of course, very familiar to me. He wore the crimson robes belonging to the Cult of Iron Will. He lifted his rifle and aimed again, putting a round into the building above me.

“Well, whoever you are, you're not very smart,” I muttered. “Drawing attention to yourself is the worst way to be a sniper. Seriously, even I know that.”

The zebra next to the wall groaned loudly as his head began to shake. He was still alive! Trap or not, he was seriously hurt and needed medical attention.

I had to do something before our assailant saw us. I took a chance and reached out with my magic, wrapping the zebra in glowing green. I picked him up carefully and floated him past the wall. A shot against the other side of the wall told me that our sniper had seen my magic trick. I pulled the zebra over and down onto the ground next to me. I reached over and grabbed onto him.

“Hey,” I said angrily, shaking him. “Wake up. I need you awake. Come on... wake up!”

The zebra stirred, his eyes fluttering as he tried to respond. He tried to sit up.

“Easy, easy. Do you know where you are? Do you know who you are?” I asked.

“Nnnngg,” the zebra replied.

Great. Just great. First I'm late to work, now I'm stuck out in the middle of the city with a zebra who's probably close to dying. Just your lucky day, Starry, I thought to myself. I grimaced, peeking up over the wall. The minotaur sniper was still there. Dammit! Why couldn't I catch a break here!

“Alright, alright. Let's not panic here,” I muttered. I looked around my immediate location, looking for an exit that didn't put me in the sniper's sights. Of course, there wasn't one. I couldn't wait forever. I wasn't quite patient or well supplied enough to sit here. Eventually I had to assume that more than just the sniper would be on their way, and that it was highly likely that more of those psycho cult members were closing in on my position at that very moment.

“Nnnngggg...” my zebra friend added. I found his assessment less than helpful.

A couple more shots hit the wall above me. I briefly wondered if the sniper had forgotten about me and was just having fun with target practice, but I doubted it. There had to be a reason he was shooting so high. My eyes drifted upwards and widened.

Fuck. Me. With. Luna's. Horn.

A large empty water tower teetered on the edge of the building. It was creaking loudly, and looked ready to fall. Another shot ripped through the air, smacking into one of the tower's support joints. It snapped in two, causing the whole structure to tilt forward a little more.

“Shit... shit shit shit shit!” I shouted. That bastard was trying to flush me out by making the tower fall on me! I had to move, and fast. I looked around again for the nearest exit that took me behind cover. There was an open door about twenty feet away on the next building over, but that was twenty feet that I'd be in the open. I needed a way to get across and not get shot.

“Nnnnnngggg,” my zebra friend said.

I blinked. Of course! The minotaur was using the zebra as a trap, so if I dashed across with him, he wouldn't be firing at me then. I realized that it was risky, after all the zebra could be the target given his condition. I had to chance it. I wrapped my magic around the disabled zebra and jumped out into the open, dashing madly for the open door as the last support beam on the water tower broke free. It fell down to where I'd just been standing and crashed, a shattering roar of sound that pierced my ears.

My heart was beating intensely as I ran. Gunshots echoed through the alley as they hit the ground beneath my hooves, forcing me to abandon my original plan of the door and head in the direction of Theater instead. My muscles seared with fire as I ran as hard as I ever had in my entire life. Eventually I realized I'd made it behind another building and that the gunshots had stopped.

I set down the zebra and slumped next to him. My heart was slamming against my chest and my body ached all over from the running. I was not a very physical or athletic type. I chalked up my ability to get the injured zebra over to this new hiding spot to pure and unadulterated adrenaline. I began to breathe heavily, grunting as I struggled to my hooves. I had to keep going. I had to get back to Theater, to Mom and the others.

I took a step forward and dropped to the ground. I tried to get back up, but found that I could barely move. Deep red trickled next to me. I glanced back at my flank, noting that my barding was soaked in blood. I'd been shot! I hadn't even felt the bullet hit me! I studied the barding closely, noting that it had a large rip in it. Mom had spent a lot of time drilling into our heads a lot about guns and bullets. Said it was knowledge that would save our lives one day. I was grateful for those lessons as I realized the bullet had just grazed me.

Now that I had noticed it, the pain arrived. It hurt like a son of a bitch, and I was bleeding pretty good. I cursed my stupidity under my breath and tried to get up again. Still unable to move. I tried accessing my magic, but the intensity of the pain made it too hard to concentrate.

Great. This is just perfect. I'm gonna bleed to death too, and no one even knows I came out here! I thought to myself. Except for Cappa, that bitch. If I got out of this alive, she was going to get a piece of my mind, and maybe a piece of my hoof to boot. Still, I had to do something. With all of my willpower, I pulled my left hoof out and used my teeth to tap on my PipBuck, opening my broadcaster application.

“If anyone... anyone can hear me... this is Starry Night... please, I need... need help,” I managed to cough out. “I'm... I'm outside the town of Theater... pinned down by sniper... bleeding...” I set the message to repeat itself as best as I could and slumped away from the PipBuck.

I had to hope somepony would eventually hear it. My eyes started to close, and I saw no more.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Where am I? I thought. Everything around me was utter black. I couldn't see or feel anything. Indeterminant chatter echoed above me. What had happened to me? And what is that infernal beeping noise?!

Oh that's right, I was bleeding to death, I thought. This must have been what... the afterlife? Tartarus? The Summer Lands? Did any of that actually exist? If I was truly dead, why was I hearing so much chatter? I couldn't make the words out too well, but one half of it sounded a heck of a lot like Mom and the other... I couldn't place it.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

I told her not to go out there! You should be thanking me for letting somepony know what your stupid little filly did!

I nearly groaned. I knew that voice. Cappa. Great. Even in death, I was still hearing that bitch and her whiny annoying voice.

You didn't bother to let anypony know until several HOURS later, Cappa. Everypony up there spotting is your responsibility! That includes my fucking daughter! This is serious negligence on your part, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to fire you for this.

Mom? Wow, you sound pissed, I thought as I listened.

Fire me? I'm the best supervisor you got up there! You can't fire me because your daughter wouldn't listen to my advice.

Lilith? Remove this trash from my sight please. She's stinking up the place something awful.

With pleasure. Cappa? Out. NOW.

Fine. You haven't heard the last from me. I'll appeal to Danish. He'll listen to me.

The voices trailed off into the black, leaving me all alone again with my thoughts. I couldn't make heads or tails over what was going on. If this was the afterlife, where you heard what everyone was saying about your death, well then it sucked hard.

A bright light appeared in the distance, drawing my attention. Its warmth radiated across the black, and I felt... content. I felt really content. I found myself drifting closer and closer to the light, and I realized that I really wanted to go to it. I was very nearly close to the light's source when a hoof grabbed my neck.

“Oh geez. You really shouldn't be here yet,” a gruff voice said.

I stopped and turned away from the light, somehow it had lost a bit of its luster compared to my curiosity as to what other pony could be out here with me. The stallion standing before me was much older than me, probably more closer to Mom's age. He stood tall, his gray coat shining brightly in the darkness. He wore armor that gleamed. His blue eyes regarded me curiously.

“Who are you?” I asked. “What do you mean by 'shouldn't be here yet'?”

The stallion stopped and grimaced. “I mean, you're not supposed to be dead yet, Starry Night.”

I blinked. “How did you...?”

“Go home, Starry. Go home, and wake up. It's not your time yet,” he said, cutting me off.

I made to protest, to ask who he was, but he grabbed me and threw me back towards the black, away from the light that I had wanted so dearly to see. I fell instead of drifting, fell deep and far until I could feel pins and needles all over my body.

My eyes opened, and I gasped for air. The beeping noise that I'd been hearing was coming from a set of machines to my immediate right. I realized that I was on a bed, likely in a hospital of some sort. Had I been rescued? What the heck had happened to me?

“She's awake!” a voice said that I recognized fuzzily as Coconut Cream Pie.

My eyes struggled to focus on the room, but eventually the blurs coalesced into the forms of my mother, my brother, and my best friend. They weren't exactly smiling. In fact, they were grimacing.

“M-m-mom?” I stuttered. “What... what happened?”

“It’s alright. You lost a lot of blood, but you're going to be alright,” Mom said softly. A smile formed on her lips.

“I can't... I can't feel my legs,” I said. I tried to move a little, but nothing but more pins and needles. “Just... pins and needles.”

“That would be the Med-X wearing off,” Coconut said. “Rest assured, the doctors say you're going to make a full recovery.”

Mom smiled widely at me. It was sort of creepy. A little too creepy. Her good eye narrowed at me and I knew it. She was waiting for an opportunity to strike.

“Lightning, Coconut. Starry needs her rest. If you two could head on back home, that'd be great,” she said. There it was. Clear out my allies and strike.

Lightning glanced at me and mouthed something I couldn't make out. He knew just as well as I did when Mom was about to unload on one of us for doing something stupid, and I had effectively done the mother load of stupid. He grabbed Coconut and guided her out of the room. Mom followed closely behind before closing the door and turning to face me.

“You could have gotten yourself killed out there,” she said softly.

“Mom... I...” I started to say before she rushed across the room and grabbed me.

“You almost died! What were you thinking?!” she shouted.

“I was thinking about saving somepony's life!” I shouted back.

The feeling in my legs was starting to return in full. I pushed myself up so I could see myself proper. My flank had been all bandaged up and it actually looked pretty good. An IV hookup was pumping blood and other medicine into my body. I looked back at Mom.

“What you did was stupid, Starry. You didn't tell anypony you were leaving!” Mom said.

“Just Cappa,” I retorted. “And we all know how that worked out don't we?”

“That's beside the point. What Cappa did was wrong, but at least she wasn't out in the middle of a Celestia forsaken war zone, and for what? A spy for the Cult?” Mom replied.

My ears perked up at this. “Wait, the zebra? He was a spy? Are you sure?”

“Not important, Starry. Stop trying to change the subject. What in the world possessed you to do something so inane as to try and get yourself killed?” Mom said angrily.

“I told you. I was trying to save him! He was hurt! And he wasn't a spy, either! That sniper was shooting at him just as much as he was me!” I cried out. I was angry. Mom was wrong about him. She had to be. All logical evidence told me that I was right and she was wrong. She was treating me like... like a child! Like I was some fool filly to be told no and patted on the back! She was wrong!

“It was a trap, Starry! They were trying to bait you! All they were waiting for was for somepony unsuspecting to come out and try and help!” Mom said. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Killing you wasn't the goal, Starry. It was all for this. To get him into our midst.”

“What? What did you do with him?” I asked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

“He's under close guard at the moment until Danish gets back. Then we'll decide what to do with him,” Mom replied. “Starry, I'm sorry, but you have to realize that just because things are getting better out there doesn't mean that we can waltz out our door and just help everyone we see.”

“It’s what Dad would have done,” I muttered under my breath.

“What did you say?” Mom said, raising an eyebrow.

“I said it's what Dad would have done!” I shouted back at her. I glared at her fiercely. I was angry at her.

“Don't... don't you dare mention him,” Mom said. She glared back, holding that gaze on me for several moment before deciding to continue talking. “You're on administrative leave for two weeks, starting today. That's my official punishment as chairpony. As your Mother, you're grounded. Indefinitely.”

“But...” I started to say. It wasn't fair! I didn't understand why she was doing it.

“No buts. You have to learn some respect, Starry, along with a little common sense,” Mom said. “Now, you're to stay here until the doctor tells you that you're able to leave, then you will come straight home.”

“What about the zebra?” I asked angrily. “Can I see him?”

“Why would you want to do that?” Mom said.

“I want to know if I made the right decision or not,” I said flatly. “You said it yourself. If he’s a spy, I want to know for myself.”

Mom sighed and closed her eyes for a second. “Fine. He's in the room next door. I will tell the guards that you're allowed to see him, but only under supervision.” She turned and walked over to the door. “You know... I am sorry. For what it's worth. But what you did was stupid and blind.”

I seethed. “I don't care. I meant what I said. Dad would have gone and saved that zebra and said fuck off to the consequences.”

Mom glared at me, but said nothing. She merely turned her head back and headed out the door.

I slumped back in my bed. What in the world had just happened? I never argued with Mom like that. I couldn't believe her nerve! I was just doing what I thought was right, and she acted like it was the dumbest thing I'd ever done. I grumbled to myself, deciding that there was no time like the present to find out if I was wrong or not. I had to see that zebra, to know if he was a spy or not.

I shuffled off of the bed, nearly falling to the ground on my wobbly legs. How long had I been laying there in that hospital bed? My body felt like jelly, and not the good strawberry kind either. I took a step forward, feeling very unstable but feeling something was better than waking up feeling nothing. I slowly and carefully made my way to the door and pulled it open. I glanced down the hall. There was nopony there. I cocked my head in confusion. Where were the guards?

“Hello?” I called out. No answer. “Okay... that's odd.”

I slowly made my way down to the room next to mine. The door was pushed open slightly. I peeked inside. If there had been a patient there, he was gone now. Was Mom lying to me? Did they already take away the zebra? What would they have done to him? Execute him? Oh Goddesses, what if they did? What if they cut off his head like in those old movies Mom used to make us watch? What if--

“Hello,” a thick accented voice said from behind me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around, seeing the zebra standing there. He was flanked by two MMMM guards.

“Oh, uh... hi there. You're awake,” I said, smiling.

“I am,” the zebra replied. “Are you here to change my sheets?”

I blinked, realizing that he must have thought I was the maid or something. “No... I'm the pony who saved your life. The one who came out to help you.”

The zebra's eyes widened. “That was you? I was told by your leaders that I was brought in with a pony. I had not expected my savior to be so... young.”

“I'm not that young,” I said, rolling my eyes. I glanced at the guards. They appeared to be rather bored for supposedly guarding a spy. “I thought that you were confined to your room?”

“Even accused spies must have bathroom breaks,” the zebra replied.

“Does that mean you're not a spy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I told your leaders again and again that I am no spy. I am a runaway slave from the Cult of Iron Will's sick arena,” the zebra said. “My name is Xerves.”

One of the guards perked up. “I'm sorry Miss, but we have to get him back into his room now.”

“It's no worry. My mother said it was fine. You know who she is, right?” I said.

“Yes, Miss. Don't spend too long. We'll be right outside,” the guard said. He turned to the zebra. “Inside. We'll be watching you.”

I grimaced, following Xerves as we were both ushered inside of his room. The zebra took a seat at his bed, while I stood near the door.

“So, Xerves. Tell me what you were doing out there,” I said. “Because as it stands, my mom is pretty pissed at me for coming out to save you.”

Xerves sighed. “I was doing just as I said. I was running away. I am a slave, formerly owned by the Cult of Iron Will.”

I narrowed my gaze at him. Was he telling the truth? I couldn't tell. He looked pretty clean to be a slave, but then again that's probably because the doctors cleaned him up. Also, who knows what those crazy ass minotaurs did to their slaves these days. I'd seen firsthand myself that they weren't treated too well, but it had been years since the Cult's doors had been opened.

“The Cult doesn't let any slaves run free,” I said. “How did you get away?”

“I... I was on a work detail, outside of the Arena,” Xerves said. “I ran.”

“Cult doesn't open its doors either,” I said. “That means no work details. So who are you? Why were you running from that sniper?”

“I just told you --”

“And you lied!” I shouted angrily. “You're not a slave. I've seen what the Cult does to their slaves. You're far too clean to be one of theirs, plus you still have all your own limbs. Why are you lying?”

Xerves glanced at me and then down at the floor. His eyes said it all. “Fine. I'm not a slave from the Cult. I'm still a runaway. But I am no spy for the minotaurs. I promise you that.”

I grimaced. “So why are you here?”

“Looking for a safe place,” the zebra said softly. “I... I needed to get away from my family. The sniper was trying to take me as a slave. I do not know if he worked for the Cult or if he was alone. All I saw was him until I lost consciousness. I am sorry for misleading you, but my family... they are not pleasant. I wish to start anew, away from their corruption.”

I looked down at my hooves as I listened and sighed. I truly believed that Xerves was telling the truth this time. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he was some sort of super spy, he would have to have been the best one of all time. Still, I was pretty sure that Mom wouldn't believe me about it, not after the last conversation we had.

“Fine,” I said finally. “I believe you.”

“Does that mean I don't have to have guards?” Xerves said, raising an eyebrow.

“We'll see,” I said. I sighed. “I'll try to talk to my mother, but I make no promises.”

Xerves nodded. “Your mother is the one with the eye patch?”

“That would be her,” I said. “She's... sort of not too pleased with me at the moment, but I'll do my best to talk to her.”

“I can tell that she isn't very happy. We had a very... unpleasant conversation,” Xerves replied casually.

“Well, still. I'll see what I can do,” I said.

“Thank you,” Xerves said. “Now, I'm sorry, but I must be resting. My body still aches and I believe your doctors would be unhappy if I did not adhere to their plan of healing.”

I chuckled. “I should probably get going myself. I have to talk to the doc and get out of here. I'll visit you again when I can.”

“That would be lovely.”

I trotted along the back alleys of Theater, headed towards my home. The doctors had seen me fit to leave, and with my official punishment in effect, I had been directed to head to my home immediately. I grimaced, going over in my head what I was going to say to Mom about Xerves. She just had to see that he wasn't a threat! She had to know that he really was running away from the sniper.

I made my way up the stairs to where the housing section of the building was. My home was near the command center, since Mom had to be close to work all the time. I trudged down the final hall, fearing what was to come. Before I realized it, I was at my door. I opened it, expecting another bout of yelling. I hadn't expected silence, or the fact that our apartment was bathed in darkness.

“Hello? Is anypony here?” I called out. Where was Mom and Lightning? It wasn't that late. They would still be awake. So why weren't they responding to my calls?

I flipped on the hallway light and walked to our living room. A lot of the homes in Theater weren't very big, having been converted from old dressing rooms and the like. Ours was one of the largest, due to Mom's position in addition to the fact that she had two kids. It had used to be a dressing room for some major production star and so it had several rooms in it besides just the main lounge area.

Nothing. Nopony in sight. I grimaced in confusion. Where in the hell were they? I took another step towards Mom's bedroom, thinking maybe she had retired early for the night. I stopped in my tracks as I heard the door to our home open. I turned around as my brother made his way around the corner.

“Starry? You're home?” he said.

I nodded. “Doctors said I would be alright to come home. Do you know where Mom is?”

“She said something about taking a nap,” Lightning said. “I uh... I went and had a drink with Coconut.”

“Oh? Well, good for you. At least one of us is getting to be an adult. Mom seemed hellbent on treating me like a little filly earlier,” I said. I cocked my head. “Wait, you said Mom went to take a nap?”

Lightning nodded. His eyes met mine and we both looked at Mom's door. It was cracked open, just barely. I moved to it, my brother following closely behind me. I pushed it open cautiously. Something wasn’t right. Mom wasn’t the type to just take random naps. Constant vigilance was her mantra. Sure, she slept, but only when she had to. She would have been up, especially after I got done with the doctors. She’d want to make sure that I’d start on my grounding training and chores as soon as possible.

“Mom?” I called out softly. “Are you awake?” I flicked on the light and my eyes widened.

Mom was laying on her bed, convulsing and breathing heavily. Her eye was closed.

“Mom!” I yelled, running to the side of the bed. I grabbed my mother, trying to figure out what was happening. I had never seen anything like it before in my entire life.

I shook her, trying to wake her up. She didn't respond. I turned back to my brother, tears in my eyes.

“Call the doctors, NOW!”

Author's Notes:

And thus it begins! That's right folks, the beginning chapter of Fallout: Equestria – Mending Hearts. The ideas and concepts behind this story came to me from a subject very close to my own, from my daughter Kaleigh Rose, who had to undergo heart surgery at scant over 4 months old to repair a hole in her heart. She's recovering well now, but the ideas rooted and planted in my mind about a side story that would deal with something similar in nature (but not too similar).

I also very much enjoyed working with Starry Night and Lightning Chaser while I was working on Tales of Chicaolt's “Wasteland Rugrats” chapters, so thus I decided to continue their story, albeit aged up a little. Starry and Lightning are now very much in their teenage years, and I ultimately decided that Starry would be the more interesting of the two siblings to use as my focal point.

This story is about as close to a sequel as Starlight is ever gonna get, so I'm pretty excited to be sharing it with you.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the beginning of this romp. It's going to get pretty intense from this point out.

I also have a Patreon now! Go check it out! I could use the support!

Major thanks and awesomeness to Wirepony, McMesser, and Heartshine, my former Starlight team who I can't wait to hopefully work with again on this fic. Also, huge thanks to my wife Lucky Star, and much love to my daughter who is my hope and inspiration, and my smile.

- V