Symphony

I hated this place. Home was not perfect. Far from it. The scar on my throat was a testament to that. But it was leagues better than the Wasteland. I may have hailed from a land of a false Goddess and Fallen Angels. But here, there were only demons.

“And then I shot the fucking grenade. That was hooves down the most awesome thing I’ve ever done!”

Demons and Carbine. The two of us had been walking all day. It was sunset now. I could tell by the colors of the cloud cover, and by the gradual fading brightness in the sky. I narrowed my eyes at the sky. I hated the cloud cover. I missed seeing the celestial bodies in the sky. The moon and all her phases. The stars and constellations. The beauty of the golden sun.

The same gold I had seen in Lyra’s eyes. I started walking significantly slower. Images flooded my mind. Lyra trotting down to the basement. The massive fireball. Seeing the pieces of her splattered body. Stepping on her eye….

Something hit me on the head. Ouch. I rubbed my head, and I moved my glare from the clouds to Carbine. My companion gazed back at me with a grin. “Thirteen gave me permission to hit you if you ever got too mopey. I’m happy to do it again.”

I chuckled internally. That did sound like something Lyra would say. I did not want to mope, but it was hard not to. I had loved Lyra for a long time. I missed her, and I was not ready to move on. I doubted I would anytime in the near future.

He hit me again. “Hey, look, a distraction!”

I appreciated the sentiment. Carbine wanted to get my mind off of Lyra. He was likely pointing to a rock or something else innocuous. I humored him, and I removed my binoculars from my saddlebags. I peered through them an—oh. Oh, my.

I saw a bonfire a little ways away. A group of maybe a dozen ponies were dancing around the bonfire. No, that was wrong. They were not dancing; they were copulating. Most of them used knives as they did so. One mare’s ear was slashed to the point it nearly dangled off her head. I saw a stallion being rutted by a knife. There was another stallion who—sweet Holy Mother not above. How could any stallion allow a mare to do that to him?

I turned my head away. It was as abhorrent as it was disgusting. So much so I actually threw up in my mouth. I used my hoof to cover my mouth so I would not retch on the ground. Then the image of what that mare was doing to that stallion appeared in my mind’s eye. My hoof was not enough, and I threw up.

“Come on, Symph. I wanna look!” I passed Carbine the binoculars, as I continued to throw up. The maroon moron started jumping. “Oh shit, a blood orgy! Can we go, Symph? Please, please, please?”

It had a name? I was less surprised that Carbine actually knew it had a name. I shook my head. Absolutely not.

A maniacal grin appeared on his face. Oh, no. “Too bad. Going anyway.”

I reached out a hoof to stop him, but he was already gone. Idiot. Damn idiot. I chased after him. He was much faster than I was. There was no hope of stopping him. Only that the damages would be minimal.

He eventually stopped running, and I stopped as well. We were close enough to the other ponies to see them in detail. They all looked terrible. Their bodies were haggard; most of them had scars. Some of them were missing their eyes. On that front, Carbine would have fit right in. Of course, there was also blood. So much blood everywhere. The stallion who had been rutted with a knife was lying in a heap over a pool of blood. I was pretty sure he was dead.

Carbine whistled loudly. With the exception of two stallions giving each other fellatio, the intimate mutilating ceased at once. “Hey, mind if we join you guys?”

The mare with the dangling ear licked her lips. “Look, boys. Fresh meat.”

I did not appreciate the implications of that sentence. Especially given the meat on a spit in the center of the bonfire. I sank my teeth into the bit of my battle saddle. Memento and Savage both fired. Memento’s bullet struck a dry heaving stallion in the throat. Savage’s hit a mare giving fellatio in the head. Given the scream of the accompanying stallion, I assumed I had struck him in the head as well. Sorry.

Anarchy and Tenacity levitated besides Carbine. The stallions pleasuring each other were quickly killed by Anarchy, while one of Tenacity’s shells hit the stallion rutted by the knife in the head. If he was not dead before, he was now.

My initial estimate of a dozen had been off. There had only actually been about seven ponies. Only two of them were still alive. The stallion I had accidentally shot in his stallionhood. The other was the mare with the dangling ear. Before I could shoot her, she tackled me. We fell over, and she had me pinned to the ground. Now she was trying to stick a knife through my heart. Hmm. There was something eerily familiar about this. “I wonder if your insides sparkle too,” she laughed.

And I wondered how long this mare had gone without a shower. She smelled absolutely terrible. Both of my forelegs were fighting off her knife. She was not making progress, but neither was I. And she did have the advantage of gravity on her side. I could really use Carbine right about now. As if on cue, the mare’s head exploded into red paste.

“Need help, Symphy?”

I did not have to look to know Carbine was wearing his maniacal grin. I responded with one of my own, as I pushed the headless corpse off of me. I stood up and shook the dust and blood off of me. Carbine cocked Tenacity, and he trotted to my side. He observed the mare’s body with a shake of his head. “That’s a waste of a damn fine body, Symph. You could have really used her.”

I cast my eyes downward on her corpse. I supposed if it had not been for the dangling ear I would have found her to be pretty. But I was in no hurry to start a new relationship. Particularly not one which involved cutting each other. I raised my hoof and made a cyclical motion. Survey the area, and take what you can find.

Carbine cracked his neck and licked his lips. “Lootin’ time. Symph, what’re we looking for?”

I picked up the mare’s knife and examined it. It was small and rusty. Hardly a dependable weapon, but it would have to do for now. I had lost my last knife at Tombstone Radio, and Lyra’s horn had been crushed beneath my sister’s hoof.

Lyra…-would want me to focus on survival. And to survive we needed provisions. I tapped the side of Savage, opened and closed my mouth, and then pointed to the sky.

“Ammo, food and water?” After I nodded, he saluted me. “I’m on it.” Carbine trotted off and started inspecting the bodies around the fire.
I went to investigate the tents. There were three of them, and each was in terrible condition. Hmm. Damaged tents. Dead ponies. Looting with Carbine. There was something familiar about this. I clutched the knife in my mouth. Just in case there were ghouls lurking around.

I entered the first tent. No ghouls. Instead I found a small storage of food and water. The keyword in that sentence being small. There were five canteens. I poured all of them into my mostly empty canteen. Collectively, they held roughly one fourth of a full canteen. Good thing I was growing used to being thirsty.

I took a few sips; immediately, I felt a surge of energy. The water was heavily irradiated. I wondered if that was why those ponies had lost their minds. It was possible overexposure to radiation caused a non-crystal pony’s sanity to deteriorate. If my hypothesis was correct, then there were two unavoidable truths. One, all the ponies in this part of the world were crazy. Two, it would be possible for Carbine to become even crazier. I felt my coat crawl at the thought.

The food stores were about as impressive as the canteens. There were cans, but most of them had been emptied onto the ground. Idiots. I also found slabs of meat, but…-no. After seeing what they were doing to each other earlier, I had no way of knowing if the meat in front of me was pony or not. I did not like the idea of eating meat, but I could do it. But I would never eat another pony. That was one standard I could still adhere to.

The next tent was a drug den. Two stallions lay inside. Their eyes were half open and dazed. Both of them noticed me. One nonchalantly turned away, while the other grinned. “Hey, there, handsome. Want to go on a trip? I’ll let you ride my rocket.”

I ignored him and started rummaging through the tent. I did not touch the inhalers or pills. I only went for the Med-X syringes and healing potions. I still had some chems left from Doctor Zimri, and I figured Med-X had the greatest benefits. However, I needed to be conservative with my uses of Med-X. I would rather not have a drug addiction.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.” I looked back at my suitor. He was gaunt, and his coat was dirty. But his green eyes glowed. “I said I want you to take a ride on my rocket.”

I shook my head.

The grin on his face was gone. He slowly got to his hooves and made his way towards me. “Maybe you didn’t understand me. I sa—”

I rammed the knife into his eye. He screamed, but he was also too distracted to fight back. I pushed him down with my front hooves. While he was on the ground, I slammed my hoof onto the pommel of the knife. The knife went further into his head and killed him. I ripped the knife away, and I cast a glance at the other stallion. He raised his hooves in the air with a whimper. I also noticed that he wet himself. I could kill to protect myself and my family. This pony was not a threat to anyone. Congratulations, unknown stallion. You get to see tomorrow.

I entered the third tent an—I immediately went back to the other tent and stabbed the stallion I allowed to live in the throat. Then I stabbed him again, and then once in the eye. Just to be certain.

I began to breathe heavily. Then I just collapsed onto my rump. I rubbed my head. I felt no joy in killing him, any of them really, but it had to be done. Rule 1, I could kill to protect. Rule 2, I could kill ponies that did not deserve to live. I was not exactly sure at the moment what conduct fell under rule two. I supposed I would know it when I saw it. I certainly saw it in the third tent.

I returned to the tent and cast my eyes on the flayed foal. In addition to having no coat, and no eyes, chunks of meat had been removed from the body. The meat I had seen in the last tent had been too big to belong to the foal, but it probably had belonged to a pony at some point. I tried to loot the rest of the tent, but my eyes kept returning to the body. I did not want to look, but I could not look away. I ultimately left the tent without taking anything.

Orchestra and her companions may have been savages, but even they would have never stooped so low.

I was met outside by Carbine. He was trotting towards me with a skewer floating beside him. Small chunks of meat rested on the skewer. “I found some ammo for Anarchy, but none for your shit.” He took a bite of the meat and chewed it happily. “But I did find this. I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m eating, but it’s good shit. Want some?”

There was no doubt in my mind he was eating the foal. My instincts screamed at me to knock away the skewer. If he argued, then I could show him the body of the foal. But what would be the point of that? The foal was already dead. His body was already defiled. Stopping Carbine would just put the meat to waste. As callous as I felt thinking that, I knew it was for the best. I did not want Carbine to have to see that. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

I shook my head.

“Alright, suit yourself, Symphy.”

Carbine walked towards the fire, and I followed him. He cleaned the meat off the skewer, while I had a can of beans with a baby tomato. At least the tomato had tasted good. The beans tasted like two hundred years. It was a taste I did not care to reflect on.

“Hey, Symph?” Hmm? I raised my head to look at Carbine. My companion was feeding the crackling fire with pieces of the skewer. “You don’t believe in the Goddess anymore, right?”

I shook my head. No, Carbine. Not at all.

“But, what about an after? Like, hmm.” He smacked his lips as he stared into the fire. “Do you think we’ll see our friends again?”

I highly doubted we would. I was not sure if I believed in any kind of afterlife now that there was no Goddess to run it. Even if there was, I knew it had to have some sort of vetting system. If I was to survive out here, I would likely have to do horrible things. Since I had already killed eight ponies, excluding the ghouls at Tombstone Radio, it was safe to say I already had. I could not speak for my friends, but I did not expect to make it through the vetting process.

I also knew that was not what Carbine wanted to hear. So, I gave him an answer that was both cynical and optimistic. I shrugged.

Carbine nodded, but did not say anything. For a while, he remained quiet. The two of us took a few drinks of the canteen and inspected our weapons in silence. I cleaned the blood off my new knife in the firelight. Great Goddess not above, this was disgusting. I tried to wipe the blood on the ground. For the most part it did not work. Eventually, I just used the straps of my saddlebag. Perhaps the bloody straps could intimidate other ponies away. Doubtful, but possible.

“Alright, Symphy, pick a number between one and six.”

I stomped my hoof three times.

“Motherfucking fuck!” Carbine groaned loudly and levitated Anarchy and Tenacity beside him. “You guessed the number, so I’m up first. Enjoy your rest. Lucky bastard.”

I grinned at him. I stood up, bowed, and took my belongings into the first tent. Then I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

I was having a nightmare. I had been having a lot lately. Most of them involved Lyra dying in different ways. I had seen her die the same deaths as Sombra, Missile, Joab and Doctor Zimri. Of course, I had seen her actual death a few times as well. However, tonight’s nightmare did not star Lyra. No, it was Missile’s turn in the limelight.

I had peered into the tent, and I was attacked by the feral ponies. They tied me up and forced me to watch what they did to Missile. They took turns sodomizing and mutilating him. He screamed for me to help him the entire time. I struggled in my bonds, but they were too tight. The harder I struggled, the more they hurt him. So I eventually stopped. I watched as they plucked out his eyes. As they plucked his wings. And then I watched as they used their knives to skin him alive.

I woke up around the time they started eating him. I slowly sat up and took a drink of the irradiated water. It was beyond vile, but I did feel better after drinking it. Perhaps irradiated water could be my drug of choice. I doubted a water addiction would be especially deadly.

Speaking of deadly, I peered outside the tent to scan my surroundings for any potential threats. Nothing popped out immediately. Even so, something felt off. I doubted I would be falling back asleep, so I might as well take watch. The least I could do was let Carbine get some rest.

I approached him and noticed his guns were on the ground instead of levitating beside him. Was he sleeping? I tapped him on the shoulder. He promptly fell onto his side. Yes, he had been sleeping while he was on watch…-he had been sleeping while he was on watch! Goddess-damned moron! I nearly woke him up by kicking him in the face.

I did not. I was still upset, furious even, but there had been no harm. I supposed I could forgive him. This time. I sat with my saddle equipped on my back. It was uncomfortable. I also put on the night vision goggles. They were not exactly designed for comfort either. It was a good setup, though. Unfortunately, I was also incredibly bored. I fished my radio out of my bag and started listening.

“Now that I’ve played my music, it’s time for the news. Here’s an update on my favorite mare in the whole wide Wasteland, the Hoarder.” Honest Jack sighed, and I took that time to turn up the volume. “Seems like just yesterday nopony knew who she was. And now she’s the Knight of the North. Last I heard, she was clearing out a raider nest near the Sugar Favor Fun Store. Folks near Neighagra sure must be singing her praises right about now.
“And if she’s not feeling very appreciated, then maybe the Hoarder can canter up here to Vanhoover and exterminate some of our bugs. And I’m not just talking about the radroaches.” Honest Jack laughed. “But it’s not just the Hoarder who’s out there. I’m starting to hear reports of a couple ponies from the Crystal Wasteland coming into our neck of the woods. If either of my newfound friends are listening, welcome to the Wasteland. And if you two don’t come in peace, I hope to Celestia you cross paths with the Hoarder.”

A jazzy, but somewhat somber, filled my ears. I turned the radio down so that the music was mostly background noise. This was not the first time I had heard about the Hoarder. According to Honest Jack, she had emerged from a Stable, whatever that was, a few weeks ago. She was well-known for two things. One, helping other ponies however she could. And two, for having a massive amount of junk. Carbine would have loved her for that.

I wondered if she was a pony worth following. Helping other ponies could give a purpose to my life beyond simple survival. If there was a vetting process for a hypothetical afterlife, being with the Hoarder could help me score some points. But my primary purpose was to preserve my life, and the life of my family. Travelling with the Hoarder would no doubt prove hazardous to my health. Besides, I had no obligation to random ponies.

I only—what was that? I fiddled with the night vision goggles and zoomed in on a spot. I saw a mare walking alone. The barding she wore appeared to be hide. Thankfully, it did not appear to be pony hide. I could make out a holster attached to her ankle, and I assumed there was a knife strapped to one of her boots. There were darker patched on her hide and streaks across her face. Likely blood.

I took aim with Savage. This mare was potentially dangerous. I could kill her right now and avoid any potential trouble. That being said, she could also be a potential friend. Maybe she would be willing to join Carbine and I. The more of us there were the safer we would be. For all I knew, this mare could be the Hoarder.

Actually, what if she was? She did not seem to have a lot of possessions, but perhaps she had dumped her things in her sanctuary. I was still unsure if I wanted to join in the Hoarder’s adventures, but maybe she could point me towards a good community. Somewhere I could start a life. Just as Lyra and I had wanted.

I started to follow her. I decided not to tell Carbine. He would want to follow me, but the idiot still stomped around when he walked. If this pony was an enemy, Carbine would prove to be a liability. Especially if he was still tired. Besides, there did not seem to be any ponies around. I would be back before he even knew I was gone.

I followed the mystery mare for a short while. Every now and then she would stop and look around. I fell onto my belly each time she did. She did not approach me, or fire her weapon, so I assumed she did not see me. The mystery mare finally stopped walking just outside the mouth of a cave. She removed the pistol from her holster, and she fired three shots into the air. Then she holstered her pistol and waited.

I got back onto my belly and crawled closer. I was still a ways away from her, but I no longer needed the zoom of my night vision goggles to see her. On second thought, I doubted I needed the goggles. I removed them and viewed the mare without a green tint. Her coat was grey as a heap of ashes, while her mane was dark orange.

“You’re late, Corporal.”

The mare immediately stood at attention. She raised a hoof in salute. “Sir! I had trouble getting away from my assignment, sir!”

Ah, so there was another pony. I tried to find him, but he was hidden inside the cave.

“Deep undercover, Corporal?”

“Deep undercovers. Sir!”

“Very well. But remove your disguise, Corporal. I’m getting sick just looking at it.”

“With pleasure, sir.”

I must have been stung by a vulpa as I slept. Maybe the raiders had slipped some sort of chem into their water before I drank it. Those explanations actually made sense. What I was seeing now did not. A baleful green light enveloped the mare. Starting from her hooves, the light slowly dissipated. Her body turned a maleficent shade of black. Insect-like wings sprouted from her back, and a small black horn protruded from her forehead. There were holes in her hooves. It was almost as if parts of her body had just fallen off.

I had heard of creatures who could change their shape. Creatures whose true forms resembled the unholy combination of an insect and the corpse of an alicorn. The Book of Cadance referred to them as demons. Demons led by the False Goddess they called their Queen. The Goddess did not exist; Shining Armor confirmed that himself. But the demons she fought were real.

I readied Savage. The mystery mare was not a pony; she was a monster. I had a better way of phrasing my second rule. Rule 2, monsters existed to be slain. I fired.

Her companion, another demon with a purple chest piece, had stepped out of the cave. I nearly screamed, or whatever sound I made was, when I saw its face. Two large fangs jutted from its mouth. Its eyes were a piercing blue. Its entire eye. There was no pupil or iris. Only a blue sclera.

The mare, or whatever it was, had bowed her head. Thus, my bullet missed. Instead, it tore through her companion’s hoof. The severed hoof fell to the ground, and black blood oozed from the wound. The crippled demon screamed as he clutched his hoof. There was a bright green flash, and he vanished.

I cocked Savage and aimed at the other demon. She had reverted back into the white mare. Her disguise would not dissuade me. A wolf in sheep’s clothing was still a wolf. The only problem was she strafed as she ran. That, and she started shooting at me. I stood up and began moving. Aside from the cave, this was an open space. My only hope was to keep moving and search for an opening.

One bullet sailed far away from me. A second clipped my tail. A green beam of magic hit me in the chest. The impact knocked me off my hooves. As I fell to the ground I fired both of my guns just in case I hit something. I tried scrambling to my hooves, but the burning in my chest was too overwhelming. I fished out one of the healing potions I took from the tent; I gulped it down. The burning in my chest began to soothe. I scrambled to my hooves and prepared to take off again.

But there was no need. I had struck her in the throat with one of Memento’s hollow point rounds. She stood in front of me, choking violently on her own blood. Her demonic-horn had sprouted from her head, but the rest of her true form remained hidden. Demons could partially transform. Good to know. The mare’s horn began to glow. I braced myself for another magical blast, but none came. The mare’s final act of magic was hiding her horn. Her final act was to spit blood at me and smirk.

Her blood splashed me in the face. Oh, right. I had forgotten my tradition of being covered in the fluids of my enemies. I had not missed that. I wiped her blood off my face. I almost flicked my hoof to remove the blood. No, I could do something with this. I brushed my bloody hoof across Memento. A remembrance of another death. Eight ponies. A few ghouls. One demon.

I inspected the demon’s body to see if she had anything worth taking. Not particularly. I did take her pistol. A 10mm if I was correct. It was not a great weapon, but it could serve me well. Her knife was also a little larger than the one I currently owned; I took that too.

Now, back to my idiot. I put the night vision goggles back on, and I made my way back to Carbine. Bang! I heard a lone gunshot. A gunshot that came from the direction of Carbine. Oh no. I broke into a full gallop. I adjusted the zoom on the goggles until I could see—oh.

Carbine was surrounded by ponies. Ponies armed to the teeth. Four ponies encircled him, while a fifth stood in front of him. Each pony wore a similar hide as the demon. Each hide was stained with blood. The pony in the middle had the most blood on his hide and face. He must have been their leader.

He was shouting something, but I was too far away to hear. Carbine said something I was also unable to hear. Whatever it was, it earned him a hoof to the face. What they were saying did not matter. What mattered was he was harming my family. I readied Savage. If my aim was true, then the leader would receive a bullet to the head. I had the bit in my mouth, and I nearly fired my shot.

Click. I heard the reading of a pistol behind me. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you. I just wanted to get your attention. Mind turning around, friend?”

I did mind turning around. Carbine was in danger, and I had a chance to save him right now. Time spent dealing with this stranger was time not spent helping him. But what else was I going to do? My new “friend” had a gun aimed to my head.

If he wanted to he could have killed me already. The fact that he did not made me want to trust him. But for all I knew, he wanted to take me captive for other reasons. Or perhaps he would rob me blind without an actual murder on his conscience. His voice was also eerily similar to Reverend Bones’. I knew that pony was dead, but I still had a bad vibe.

I turned around. In front of me was a ghoul garbed in a brown trench cloak and tattered brown hat. A revolver levitated in-between the two of us. The silver barrel glowed unnaturally in the moonlight. There was no green and black aura around it, but it made me just as uncomfortable as the skull at the Cemetery. Though that might have been because it was pointing at my forehead.

“I saw you pointing your gun at those ponies over there.” His gun pointed forward towards Carbine and his attackers. “You can do whatever you want, but I just thought I’d let you know that it’s a really bad idea to shoot at them.”

I raised one of my eyebrows.

“Four reasons, friend. One, bullet drop. If you’re aiming for his head, you’ll just hit his shoulder from this distance. Two, you’re outnumbered. So, not only will you piss off the leader. You’ll also have that entire gang come after you. Three, I’ve seen that group around a few times. They’re violent, but they generally don’t kill unless a pony pisses them off. But they’ll probably kill your friend out of spite, and then come after you. And four. Because if you leave them alone now, you have a better chance of being able to save your friend later.”

I took some time to process that information before I acted. My best case scenario would be to kill the leader and for the others to scatter without him. I doubted that would happen. Even if I did manage to kill the leader, the others probably would come after me. I could get lucky and pick off another from a distance, but I did not like my chances. Especially since there was a chance they could kill Carbine anyways.
But that meant having to leave him. Not too long ago, he had saved my life. I needed to have another pony out here watching my back. Since he was my family now, I wanted it to be him.

The ghoul cleared his throat, and he lowered his gun. “I won’t stop you, friend. I have a group of raiders I need to kill. But if you want to survive the night you should come with me. You might learn a thing or two about the Wasteland.” The ghoul tipped his hat and trotted off.

I cast a glance behind me. The lead pony was continuing to pummel Carbine. I could not watch this. So I removed the night vision goggles. Without the zoom I could not see far enough to witness Carbine’s beating. I was not abandoning him. I was simply biding my time until I could rescue him. I just pray—hoped he would survive until then. Just hold on, Carbine. I will save you. I promise.

I tore my eyes away and followed after the ghoul.

Footnote: Level Up!

No new perk this time, though. What? You think this is a charity or something?

Author's Notes:

I want to take a brief second to discuss raiders. The raiders in Crystal Hearts are not affected by the raider virus from Project Horizons. The group at the beginning just happened to be completely and utterly batshit insane. Some groups of raiders might be like that, but most groups will have some semblance of intelligence. On that note, Symph’s theory of radiation shouldn’t be read into too much. Just him musing.

As always, thank you to Kkat for writing the original. To other authors for contributing to the 'verse. And to my readers. I hope you continue to enjoy Crystal Hearts. Until next time!