Chp4.4 Gardens [Put it in a Letter, Twilight Sparkle!]

‘I need a vacation…’

The claxon rang monotonously as Scapegrace passed through the empty hall. Even as she did, she could hear the trailing echoes of battle, resounding through the walls. ‘Scented bubble bath, a hoof massage, and books… anything was better than this.’ she thought.

She had managed to slip out of a little scare at the center of three definitive gangs launching hell at each other. One crazy unicorn had managed to run straight through the middle with a pair of magically glowing scissors, stabbing one of the other bosses repeatedly. A pony in a stable jumpsuit with spiked pauldrons and a pipbuck squashed an entire crew by telekinetically throwing a supercomputer at them.

A group of renegades with blue masks, piecemeal body armor, and a variety of medical tools from scalpels to buzzsaws had snuck around, descending upon nearly dead ponies like angels… except their wings weren’t white dove wings, they pigeon wings. She had watched ponies’ expressions swing from hopeful surprise to screaming pain in an instant as those maniacal doctors systematically removed their organs, complaining about needing to be back in their town to see clients in the morning! Were they even here for the competition? She didn’t know.

Then there were the horrors of those cackling ghoulish grandmas. Apparently, in the wasteland, crazy sometimes came in floral hats with hoof crocheted saddlebags filled with explosives. Even with so many, that was hardily an exhaustive list of all those flank crazy ponies.

There were too many ponies in this place. It was a nightmare…

‘Everything’s trying to kill me! Why couldn’t just I die getting crushed by a mountain of books or something nice like that?’ That was the kind of death she could get behind.

But somehow, it all fostered a fire inside of her… despite such impossible odds, she had survived. Everything was unfolding right before her. She didn’t want to think about it, though. Still, there was a possibility to jinx everything.

Murderers

It was painted across the walls in blood, long dried. The spinning orange lights of the alarm system casted just enough illumination over the room. Plant life had trellised itself on the remains of the heavy door. Scapegrace carefully stepped between the mangled scraps of iron servos and shattered talisman sharps as she peaked into the room to find a small fort. The misshapen muzzle of a fire-charred turret looked over the chamber, a boneyard of ivory skeletons in white coats scattered before a makeshift embankment of desks. Thick crusted stains of blood had set into the ground, turning black with age.

Gracie let out a sigh. Be cool, she told herself. Terrible advice, really… she was already shaking. She moved beyond the barricade to find the skinny, white bones in little, white coats, huddled around makeshift beds forever quiet since their last moments. Can you say, ‘apocalypse slumber party?’ In playtime, this might have been fun, but reality made for a bitter twist. Each skeleton had a cracked skull, and in the center was a single 10mm sidearm. Time had torn away their bodies, but life had conquered death as ashen vines grew over ivory.

Scapegrace couldn’t help the feeling that plants that thrive in the dark were not to be trusted, especially with the experiences earlier in the day.

Looking around she spotted the dusty screen of a personal computer. What a total mess! She had been looking for scientists. It seems she found them, in their natural habitat no less. The array of desks was decorated and accented with an ocean of discarded cans. A waste bin at the end of the desk had been belligerently stuffed with paper and tin cans of mintals and energy drinks.

It was a graveyard of nerds. It ate away at the mare’s heart.

As she ambled cautiously around the prewar refuse, an array of scratches on the siding of the wall caught her eye. Two sets of four, crossed diagonally, and three hanging lines. Tally marks. ‘Thirteen days…’ she thought to herself. ‘A long time to hold out without many resources.’ As she scanned around the computer, her eyes fell onto a little note pinned to a corkboard on the wall.

“MAS computers are not for personal use. Personal files found on storage matrices will be read over the intercom, and recorded on work report. -Starlight”

“Starlight? That name was in the file.” She mumbled to herself.

‘This might be it…! Is this even real?’ Scapegrace shivered as anticipation coiled up inside her. ‘Everything is going right for once… which means something must be terribly wrong.’

Moving alongside the computer she noticed the lovely desiccated corpse hunched over the keyboard. “You’ll have to forgive me for this, but excuse me…” she said as she pushed it to the side. The dried ligaments holding the pieces together broke apart, scattering the bones onto the chair and floor. Scapegrace’s coat bristled, nearly jumping off of her body. She stifled a pitiful scream internally as she puffed out her cheeks.

Releasing a familiar sigh, she shrugged. “…Sorry.”

Brushing the bones out of the chair, she sat down and pulled the keyboard into place before her. She patted it down, feeling how it cradled her forehooves well for typing. Scientists always got the best toys... She knew how to use one of these bad boys. A few keystrokes was all it would take to bring out the genie inside, and that would tell her everything she needed to know.

Scapegrace beamed with anticipation as she turned on the tower. If only it hadn’t been set up with an elaborate and largely unnecessary startup sequence.

Scapegrace tapped her hoof as she rolled her eyes at the unhurried initialization bar as it crawled up to a modest 12%, where it made itself comfortable.

She glanced back as a defiant line of static rolled up the screen, distorting the image of the six pointed star. ‘I don’t have a good feeling about this.’

Immediately after the thought, the startup progress bar started moving backwards and crawling up the vertical pixels, the colors inverted, and MAS logo had been twisted out of shape. Scapegrace rested her head and hooves against the desk with an aggravated sigh, practically mirroring the skeleton from before. The skull of the pony was making the same face she was as it layed there, knocked on its side.

Turning to the side, Scapegrace looked at the fallen pile of bones. “What did you do to this thing?!”

Believe it or not, it had the gall to give her the cold shoulder. Maybe it was still mad about being knocked over…

“You might be related to somepony I know…” she said as she gave a disgruntled look.

The computer started making an annoying rattling sound as the progress bar had wrapped around the screen, and the top of the MAS star was now sticking out the bottom of the screen. She wrinkled her nose at it.

‘I can fix this’

Scapegrace lifted the tower up onto the table, its wires trailing out behind it. Scapegrace breathed out. With every manifestation of this twisted magic, it came with an array of nauseating feelings. Some lost nightmares of ghosts of the past perhaps, but she would endure anything for this goal. At the end of her hoof, a small crystalline screwdriver head appeared. Unfastening the holds on the chassis of the computer tower with the spinning appendage, she opened up the assembly of talismans. Finely carved gems lined with golden trimmings connected a series of spell matrixes. A black vine trellised around the central processing orb. Many of the talismans had little small dents and scratches in them.

Morphing her hoof back to its natural state, she pulled out a small, unremarkable rose-colored talisman. Furrowing her brow alongside a contemplative frown, she wondered to herself. ‘Do I have the capacity for this?... I picked up a little bit of ammunition for the submachine gun, but with my aim, I don’t think it will help me much. I used up my explosives, including my holdout stash, and I know things are going to get harder from here.’ She thought to herself. ‘This spell is the only thing I have to defend myself...’

Turning back to the display, she noticed it had somehow reached a login screen, but it had been scarred beyond recognition.

‘I can’t turn back here, even if it hurts.”

She cupped her hoof over the purple storage matrix and her coat began to glow as a stream of runic symbols within the crystalline formations of the talisman flowed into her. She grit her teeth. “Let’s do this quick…” She muttered. ‘Don’t need that… don’t need that… I don’t even know what was going on with that glyph… goodbye security screen, I won’t be needing you.” She said to herself as light cracks began to splinter along her temple. The screen began to fix itself, one string at a time in rapid succession. “And… there.” She said as she expelled a short lived magical glow. A little cracked and bleeding internally, but she had bypassed her way to the matrix index. There were many file names, but scores of them had distorted into scrambled nonsense.

Scapegrace slouched in relief for moment, catching her breath. She looked back at the rosy talisman she had pulled out before. “... didn’t have to overhaul the matrix. I lucked out.” She said before tucking the gem away.

Her hooves glided on the keyboard like a dance. “First things first…”

A few keystrokes later, she had found herself a link to the alarm system. With a satisfying push of a button, the obnoxious claxon shut up eternally. She didn’t just turn it off, she deleted the entire system. ‘Better’

Tapping into that network of power, she clicked away at the keyboard. She had some things that needed to be done. Accessing security was a difficult process back in the day, but 150 years of hacking to systems that weren’t updated streamlined the process. She brought up the feeds from several cameras around the facility. Many of them were sending back static, but she had enough that if she kept an eye out, she could be alert to any threat coming by her hall.

It wasn’t hard for the mare to find a map in the files. Strangely for her, it was one of the last accessed files in the days before the end. There were many rooms. Three floors, all crawling subterranean. There were laboratories of every kind, labeled after historical ponies or philosophical ideals, sub-headed with the usual denotation of zone and lab number. She had every single bathroom, broom closet, and breakroom marked down. Celestial Historium took Scapegrace’s interest as the historical research chamber. Athenaeum Elegance was a large library set deep below. Just reading ‘Athenaeum’ made Scapegrace want to dive in deeper. Among other rooms, the most unsettling to her was the size of the holding areas deep below, along with its proximity to a then-newly built furnace. She knew it had to do with those MoM files she found earlier.

Scapegrace took a moment to shuffle through the lining of the skeleton’s coat to find a dusty, clip-on badge. With a little bit of computer wizardry she spruced the authorizations up where she could. Carrying the badge, she hopefully wouldn’t have to deal with turrets grumpily waking up on her.

It was almost like she knew her way around now. Jumping back to the index, She shivered in disbelief as the marker flashed at her, awaiting her input. ‘This is real… wow. Here goes nothing.’

She typed two little words. Two little words that every crystal pony who ever lived knew.

Crystal. Heart.

She pressed the ‘enter’ key with a prayer.

A barrage of swiftly tessellating words flew across the screen too quickly to read, but after the arcane info grinder had pulled to a stop, the only results that had piled up linked to entries of a list of reports from a wide variety of ponies with either “Crystal” or “Heart” in their name like “Crystal Éclair” and “Heartstrong”. Pre-war naming conventions had damned her. This wasn’t the first time this problem showed up either.

‘They just had to give it the most generic name, didn’t they?’ She cursed to herself. ‘We know it was here… I need to keep looking.’

In her magic computer wizardry, she put quotation marks on that search. The computer blipped about as it summoned a whole lot of nothing.

‘Well fuck...’

There was still hope. Knowing history was a useful thing for Scapegrace. Scientists, particularly those that aspired to serve the Ministry of Arcane Science were unabashed abusers of the tradition and craft of professional nomenclature. The reckless abandon towards the process of inventing unnecessary lingo had become an unwitting conspiracy against common understanding. Having searched several ministry facilities on behalf of the Fractale Covenant, she had often run into MAS dossier files for joint-tasks between the ministries. They often filed documents away with the a stamp, reading “Translate for Normal Ponies”. The MAS had prided themselves on their technical jargon, claiming that it was a defense against Zebra spies. Apparently they thought zebra didn’t speak nerd. As a historian and an intellectual, it was the source of much irritation and sorrow for Scapegrace.

If it was here, it had probably acquired some strange name. It would take some digging.

Suddenly, there was a loud clang and an explosion that came from outside. Scapegrace ducked down, shutting off the monitor to avoid detection, but when she looked around, nopony was there…

“What was that?” Shit was going down all around, but she need to know where to avoid. Scapegrace switched the monitor back on and flipped to the security camera network. She caught a glimpse on screen of my lovely yellow self stumbling in chase of Pharoah. “No… please, no…”

The visual display wavered with static as the hellhound broke through the ground beneath me. It was like a javelin through the heart, and the brittle confidence she had was showing cracks.

“I can’t watch this… not now. I’m finally getting everything right, I don’t need this.” Scapegrace shook. She closed the camera feeds, even though she knew she needed them. She didn’t want to see.

It wouldn’t make sense for her to spend time trying to decipher project journals. While glancing through file indexes, her eye grasped hold of a section labeled ‘Reports’. That would be the answer. If a scientist had to discuss results with the director, they would be forced to tone down the neologisms. Yes, focus on what was in front of you, Scapegrace. Don’t worry about me.

‘Ministry of Arcane Science, Designation: Ponyville’ it read on its heading.

COMMISION: PROJECT HARMONY= RESEARCH DIVISION

Director: Twilight Sparkle

Research Coordinator: Gestalt

Entry: 5

Research regarding sociomagnagraphic specimens one through six have been steadily progressing. With the recent installation of a Magi-magnetic spectrometer, we hope to be able to isolate and identify the psychogenic link between the host and specimen, however, we’ve run into issues with establishing proper resonance. We've devised plans for psychoscopic litmus tests, but finding proper neuro-indicators has proven difficult. When we have figure out proper exposure techniques to prevent arcane hemophilic scattering we would request to study the bearers to ensure results.

Judging by the date, this was sometime in the early war, but given the names it was a little bit surprising. Gestalt and Mosaic were notable directors, overseeing experiments at the Canterlot hub after Twilight had left. It must have been before Twilight left for Canterlot.

Still, the name Twilight could not be ignored. This place was bonafide. A studying capital of the magic queen herself. It didn't seem real.

The search would require something more specific to find the right information. It was not an easy task to guess the keywords in labyrinth of language... particularly when it was in a language nopony remembered. Anxiety faintly clawed at the back of her mind. Standing idly for too long could get her killed. She could feel Calypto was laughing at her. In her rumination, a little tab on the screen stared back at her. 'Recent files'. Scapegrace glanced back to the skull of the pony next to her.

'…one look.'

Just one look. That was what she told herself. She needed this. It would be quick, and nopony could stop her. Even in the heart of danger, some addictions could not be broken. If she didn’t read them, who would? Somepony had to, she was just being courteous. It made her crystal coat shimmer just a little brighter. After all, this was 'research'.

At first there was nothing, but she knew they had to exist. She changed a few settings to reveal hidden files, and like promise they appeared in droves. So many files, just dying to be sifted through. Just the kind of thing an addict never needed.

A little black thing trellised itself up the desk. It went as unnoticed as the air.

Personal Log 6923

… Scapegrace looked back at the note on the wall. No personal files, huh? The end of the world had a way with changing things.

Last modified 150 years ago: I never thought I'd be looking down at the abyss from the front seat. I think this is it. It is really going to end. Director Starlight has lost it. Something's happened outside, but she won't let us figure it out. Yeah, something out there exploded. I know that. Everypony knows that. I just want to know which one went boom first. If karma actually exists in the world, then it’s hard to believe that the first target wasn’t us… All the doors have been sealed. Is anypony else alive? I can’t know can I. Alive and dead at the same time. This is what it’s like in Schrodinger’s world. Now I know what it feels like to be a lab rat. At least I’m not the cat in the box...

As her eyes devoured the words, the sapling plant struck like a viper. With a blueish green thorns, the plant lashed out. It wrapped around her neck, trying to pull her away.

It tried, but she refused to be ripped from the screen. Her eyes were tethers.

Starlight…. That name from before. This was therapeutic, she needed to read more. One more!

Log 6924: Spell Checker is dead. A smart and qualified researcher killed in an instant. At the meeting, Starlight Glimmer told us we were to keep working or else we would be fired. None of us wanted to stay, not here, but Spell Checker wasn’t as talented as the rest of us in smiling and shutting up. She just had to speak up... Glimmer seemed fine at the time. A few hours later, the defense turrets just opened fire on Spell Checker claiming she was some kind of intruder! Well, the data’s in on that experiment. Though none of us are eager to see that one peer reviewed... We are trapped now. One of us tried to send out for help, but the network’s shut down. We have to work. Just remember to tell yourself. You love your job. You love it.

Two flower heads had snapped out at her. Their teeth sank in. One at her shoulder, and another at her oblique. “Aygh!” Scapegrace returned to her senses at the pain. She looked back at the computer as she clung to the desk.

‘It doesn’t hurt that much, can I still read?-- Eeek-gah! Damn it, I’m reading!’

Twisting a hoof into a blade and lining herself with serrated spikes, Scapegrace swiped at the vines. She tried to keep her eyes on the screen, just to read a bit more as she cut them away, but when the plant’s thorns began to dig in, she knew she had to devote everything to slicing them apart. Plants let out alien screeches as she diced away at them until they writhed away.

Scapegrace fell back to her hinds. What was she even doing here? Shaking, and covered in holes, she was a mess. She knew she couldn’t even hold herself to what she needed to do. She looked to the door. One more. Anything was better than going back. She would have to leave at some point, but after one more… that made her feel better. As she began to read, she couldn’t hear the sound of hoofsteps.

Log6945: I don't care anymore. Starlight has started broadcasting all our personal logs over the intercoms to prevent us from logging any of this, but we can't get any lower. It’s war now. Some just wouldn’t take it sitting down. Starlight reprogrammed the food dispensers, and now its scientist against scientist to survive. I miss the days where we worked under Twilight, or Gestalt. It was different then, we were encouraged to write letters to Celestia. Even if they never got sent, it was good to reflect. Twilight liked the idea that friendship was magic, but… Starlight is skeptical. The research must continue. Starlight says that our work is to save Equestria. She says that our research is our salvation. She says that we are heroes. That sort of thing was a nice thought, but I wish we had a Celestia damned choice. The magic we do here is twisted and profane, but if she says that we are heroes, then I won’t argue with the one who controls the security turrets…

It was then that the strange scent of smoke made her tense up. Scapegrace froze. Out of the reflection on screen, Scapegrace could make out a drum-fed tommy gun enveloped in an amber glow. 'Why did it have to be now?'

Scapegrace shivered as she breathed in and out. She never wanted to see him again. The pony levitating the gun had a ratty scuffed up suit, tattering at the ends of his sleeves. A cigarette was clamped between his teeth as he clicked his tongue pedantically. “Hey, crystal doll. Look who we stumbled upon.”

Scapegrace paled as the colors sank away from her coat. Hadn't she gotten tougher? She had hoped so, but that was the kind of dream that was quickly forgotten as one wakes to reality. Scapegrace winced before continuing to scroll away at the computer.

Brrrr-r-r-r-rt! The gangster fired a short burst into the air. The shaking sound made Scapegrace fall, chest to desk. Scapegrace spun frantically as the stallion flipped his gun through her tail. The unicorn grinned as he took a long drag from his cigarette. He blew a plume of smoke as he looked down on the scrambled mess clenching her tail. “Look at me when I'm talkin', babe.”

“Damn it, Vinny.” A zebra in business casual called out from atop the makeshift rampart as he watched the exit. “You could have slapped the collar on and saved us a trip.”

They were a pair of “Nice Ponies” from the nightmare city of New Reino. The very ones she had hired as guides on this expedition. Somewhere along the line, the rules had changed without her knowing. When she ran from the contract, they didn't exactly appreciate it.

“Hey, I'm getting' to it, I wanted to see how long it’d take her to notice.” Vinny replied. Looking back to Scapegrace, he smiled. “Traffic doesn't want her. Even for slaves, the stallion's going to want 'em to not be... y'know, useless screw ups. Besides, I heard the crystal bastards don't age well.”

Useless screw up. Scapegrace mumbled as she sank into herself. She tried to dodge the unicorn's eyes.

“What was that, Book Club?” Vinny said as he prodded her with the tommy gun.

Sometimes the hardest thing to say was what you felt. Scapegrace fumbled as she failed again and again to shape the words. She couldn't keep her eyes from swelling up. “I'm not... a screw up.” She said gritting her teeth.

The unicorn leaned in towards her and gave a cocky shrug. Tapping the gun against her forehead in a light, whimsical rhythm, he said the words: “Ya got caught, bitch~.”

What else was there to say? Scapegrace scowled. “Were you following me?”

The unicorn cracked into a smirk as he leaned against desk. “Don't I wish? I'd love to say we were hot on your trail, but we just figured you'd get yourself killed on your own.” The bastard raised a hoof. “You want the honest truth?” Vinny floated his cigarette out of his mouth and tapped the ashes onto the skull on the table, before flicking the short stub spinning away into the corner. “It's just not your lucky day.”

“Stop showboating, Vinny, hell-damn.” The zebra added. “Keep that up, and I'll the put the shackles on y-- hold up!” Suddenly there was a howl that came from hallway. A shambling horror came through the doorway.

“We will save you from despair.” It called, and for a moment it almost gave Scapegrace hope.

The zebra lifted a strange gemstone fitted rifle. The zebra slid the focus on the gun's spell chamber and pulled the trigger. The air filled with an unsettling malevolent aura as the surging green spear of energy pierced the creature. The mutant writhed as it's body seemed to boil. Like a wild fire from within, a green light could be seen cutting through the inside of the body as the flesh melted off in thick visceral chunks. When the light show ceased, the deformed skeleton of the creature was all that was left, charred to a blackened crisp.

“If you gonna fight, fight. If gonna talk, talk. Come on, this shit's basics.” The zebra mumbled to himself. He turned to Vinny. “As I was, sayin-- for fuck sake!” More aberrations were crawling in. The zebra opened fire to keep them at bay.

Scapegrace could feel a shiver every time the gun fired. She sank down to the floor. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Maybe.” He grinned. “Make me a happy stallion. You know what we want.” The pony’s grin soured into a grimace. “Find it.”

Scapegrace turned back to the computer. “You’re not going to find it here. ... Go try Maripony.”

“I didn't ask for a recommendation.” Vinny brought the backside of his hoof across Scapegrace's face. “I said find it.”

Scapegrace shook her head. She had to get out of this. Could she reach her weapon fast enough? Could she fight him with this blood magic? It could heal, but if he shot her in the head, she would die in an instant, right? She thought about it, but she kept stumbling on one critical little detail. 'That gun shoots really fast.'

“Alright, you talentless freak, let me run you through the condition…” He said as he pulled a hoof around Scapegrace. He pointed down to the mare chest with authority. “My boss gave you hell of an opportunity. He gave you the information, resources, and all the little tools you got wid' ya.” He scowled as he poked at her repeatedly. He threw her to the ground and towered over her. “Wid'out him, ya ain't have nothing, and you ain't worth nothin', kapiche? He owns you. You begged to my boss, and he gave you everything, but when he says he wants you to help out a little bit, you run the hell away.”

“I never asked your boss for help. I asked the Xiamonte.” Scapegrace said under her breathe.

Vincent slammed the butt of the rifle against her cracked temple. “Property doesn't talk, bitch.”

Scapegrace shut up. She wanted to say that she didn't have a choice. She wanted to say that it didn't make sense to stay when they were going to do tests on her. She wanted to say that he should go fuck himself, but she knew already what he would do. So out of fear, she went silent clenching at her head.

“Here's how it goes, folks.” Vinny said as he pulled Scapegrace off the ground, gripping her by the collar. “You are gonna do exactly as I say, and maybe I won't have to ventilate that empty little head of yours.”- He said as he threw the mare into the desk. “This is one of the T-mare's special little palaces, you are gonna find anything you can on IMP and anything else we might be interested in, and then you’re going to download it onto one of your little diamond drives.” He pointed back to the computer. “Now, while you're still pretty...”

Scapegrace tried to shake the fear out of herself, but her body was fumbling. What chance did she have? Nothing was more convincing than a gun to one’s back, and she could feel her bad luck crawling back all over her. She put the storage talisman into the computer, but what was she supposed to do? How did you find something that didn’t exist?

“What do you want me to do?”

The gangster kicked her again. “I want you to read. That should be something you’re good at? Right? Skim around in there, poindexter, until you find what we want.” Vinny said. He spit to the side. “And don’t even about trying anything stupid…”

‘What would Tumblewe--’

Before she could even finish the thought, pain shot up through Scapegrace’s leg as the unicorn fired a bullet into her leg.

“I said no thinking!”

Trembling, Scapegrace complied as she fell to the desk. Her head throbbed as she discreetly focused her magic to patch the hole.

Searching was long. The bastard was hardly watching the screen, he was just watching for any sign of rebellion. To calm herself down, Scapegrace began looking at the personal logs again.

Log 7003: They're here. The ponies with the strange arcano-physiology that the MoM commissioned broke out of holding. They have been going crazy and destroying the facility intranet. The turret took care of a few of them, but it worries me. The first level is the only floor that is safe anymore. The most of the equipment is down below, and we have to make expeditions to keep up our research. What's worse is... yesterday, we got lost. We worked here for ten years… How the hell do we get lost? Zero Deviation and some ponies went to check on Gardens, but they never came back. We are paying for our sins. It's Starlight's fault, ever since she came here. Ever since we lost the specimens Garden's changed. Gardens of Equestria should have died back then… 6 years ago. Back before Starlight. She was too smart. If we lost the old specimens, we could make new ones. What we've done here… we made atrocities out of science fair projects. I think we all knew it, but we all held our tongues for the sake of progress. We deserved this. We think they’re coming for us in our dreams… unlucky for them. We never slept much, knowing about the things we’ve done.

Scapegrace caught her own gasp with a hoof. Gardens of Equestria. That was all the confirmation she needed. It was a buried dead-end project, but it was one of the few places she had heard being tied to the crystal empire. It wasn't valuable by itself, but if this was worked on Gardens of Equestria, then the crystal heart might just be here. Still, something caused the project to fall apart. From the repealed headlines of Ministry of Image writer’s house, something happened with a plant disaster around the same time...

“You find it yet?”

“It’s going to take a bit of time…”

Tracking down to a time frame, she scoured the archive. She had her reference points. Twilight Sparkle left well before Gestalt or Mosaic. A search for the earliest mention of Starlight could lead to positive results.

“Hey.” Vinny called back to his zebra partner. “Since we have her so delightfully captive, What do you say? Eh? How’s about a round?”

“You’re a sick bastard.” The zebra called back.

“Suit yourself.” Vinny shrugged.

She found it.

Log 5482: Dear Minister Twilight,

I hope that you are well. I can’t help but wonder what is going on in your head. Everypony else is trying to transfer from the project, but as per your request I’ll stay. It is shocking to be on inside. It was exciting hearing about every instance where the Elements had to be retrieved for some grand crisis, but knowing that the we no longer have them is a harrowing thought. Gardens of Equestria has little left to work with, other than the gracious donations from Cadance and Shining Armor. I am grateful for you pulling strings to make things possible, but I cannot image they can relinquish such national treasures like that just to prolong an experiment. Until then, we took some time to examine those Discordian tanglevines that caused the upheaval. They appear to exhibit semi-sentient behavior and learning, although they don’t seem to possess a brain. They are highly resistant to unicorn, pegasi, and earth pony magic. They are functionally blind and use their expansive vine network as a sensory system to detect vibrations through the ground. Their cell walls are weak to radiation, but we determined that casting megaspells across Equestria was not a good solution to the problem. The most fascinating trait of them is their ability to manipulate magic. We have had to hire many earth ponies to restrain the small specimens we retrieved. We even kept a few seeds for further study. With the death of gardens of equestria, we might as well find something to salvage after this endeavor. As a scientist, it is my job to think for the future, but it is also my job to act. Before the new director, Starlight Glimmer arrives, we must act to find new direction.

Your faithful student,

Integra

As Scapegrace read, a disgusting sensation crawled up her side as Vinny stroked a hoof across her side. She shivered at the vile touch, but couldn’t just turn around. He stood a hoof up on her back, and she could hear the sounds of magic unbuckling the gangster’s belt and unzipping his pants. He licked his lips. She had to listen to him.

She had to stop thinking and just act.

Her hind leg, cradled in blind spot of the gangster’s lusting position, contorted into a curved spike. Leaning forward with a gratifying kick to the groin and hips, Scapegrace sent the bastard cascading down to his hinds. Before he could act, she whipped her front hoof across his face with a serrated edge. Do or die. There was no time for thinking.

Scapegrace winced as she realized she didn’t even come close to taking off his head.

The gangster collapsed into the desk behind him. “My fucking eye!” Vinny cursed. “Bitch clawed out my fucking eye.” As he gripped his eye in pain, he grinned. The blood came trickling back through the air, slipping back into the broken vessels and cracks in the skin. “Bet you feel stupid now, bi--”

Vinny should have listened to his zebra friend. Talking does not help much during a fight. Scapegrace threw down the computer monitor down on Vinny’s head, letting it splinter and shatter into countless fragments. She flipped a desk over top of him, then pulled down a cabinet. She had to do everything she could.

A blazing green bolt lanced over Scapegrace’s shoulder and she froze. The zebra was pointing that terrifying rifle at her. She couldn’t fight that. All she could do was pray.

“Well now you fucked up, Scapey. I was thinking about letting you live a little longer, but you finally pissed me off.” Vinny said as he stomped out from under the pile of debris, knocking it to the side. “Let’s see if you crystal ponies shatter.”

Vinny grit his teeth into a tight scowl, but nothing really happened. “What the…?” He grit his teeth again to no avail. He went through an entire spectrum of angry expressions that seemed to soften as his eyes noticed the strange blue aura that was enveloping the tommy gun. His aura was amber. He knew that much. As he turned around, he saw the hovering black tendril with glowing blue thorns. “Z, kill it!” He shouted, but before the zebra could react, the gun began to fire wildly.

Scapegrace ducked gently down for cover as the bullets ripped through the air. The zebra guard took several bullets to the chest, sending him and the unstable rampart he was on crashing to the ground. The thorny vines seemed to descend upon him ravenously, tearing him apart.

“Bitch!” The gangster charged over to Scapegrace, but a whirling tentacle slammed a long thorn through his skull, from one end to another. “I feel so weird right now.” He said, as his body tried to put itself back together. Another tendril slithered around his neck and slammed him back against the ground.

Everything went according to plan. It was a gamble, and had she thought about it, she would have never taken it. They felt through vibrations, every step dug her grave a little bit deeper. As the gangster was being dragged away, Scapegrace sighed.

The tentacle turned their tips toward her at her sigh. Shit. She had solved one problem, but now she was going to die to the solution. This was why she liked to think things through.

She began to shiver. Another plant seemed to trellis over the ground to find her. As it looked, it knocked aside many cans attracting other tendrils towards them in confusion.

She needed to get out of here, while not moving. She got the idea that such a thing was going to be hard. Looking around for some solution, she lost her balance, causing her to trip back.

The vines turned towards her.

Scapegrace made a dash over the desk, kicking it on its side as she passed. It only confused them for a moment as she galloped down the halls. With that blood magic spell, she could reinforce her muscles to give her the power she needed. As she ran, a thicker root burst in front of her path and she rolled over it. The plants seemed to notice. One lashed out and slipped around her leg, pulling her to the ground. It dragged her through remains of the fallen rampart.

She could put herself back together with blood magic, but magic didn’t help if you took a killing blow or got knocked out. She could feel a rotting sensation crawl over her as she morphed her hooves into many talons, clawing fervently to break the grip of the vine.

She cut the one on her leg, only for two more to take hold, digging deeper with long thorns.

She held fast to a desk buried in the pile. Gasping, she looked around for some kind of way out. Beside her, she saw the severed head of the zebra guard.

More importantly…

She found his gun, barely out of reach.

As she struggled and stretched to grab the gun, a tendril slammed through it, dashing any hopes of survival apart.

*** *** ***

I took a moment to breathe as I looked over the office. I hadn’t left since Pharoah came and went. Whether or not it was the end of days, I was too tired to move. Today had been a test of endurance, and if I kept going, I’d get sloppy. Like splattered all over the walls, sloppy. I was thinking I might die from not getting enough radioactive dust in my lungs. Damn the apocalypse, I was staying in this cozy little… office? I guessed that was what it was. It was more like a tomb. Stale air, rotting corpses, the hoarded possessions compiled in the moments of death, and even a large screen computer to keep a corpse entertained. As my eyes wandered, I caught sight of a curious book beside the old corpse in the room. It was flipped open to the final page.

As it all comes to an end, everything is done. I gladly take my place in hell, between Lady Twilight and Celestia.

The words were written in blood, but what was astonishing was the penmanship. This was not the frantic scrawlings of a pony twisted in fear, but a determined pony with resolve and will. It was not painted with hooves, but with a quill. Classy. Little bit edgy, but classy.

I wasn’t the nerdiest pony, but I did study for a time in Junktown. Reading was an escape, but I always seemed to read for the wrong reasons. Hearing about the suffering of prewar ponies did provide some disgusting glee. Okay, better reason: maybe I could find something useful for Scapegrace. I owed her. Letting myself rest, I flipped the book to the opening page. It was a diary. The date was sometime prewar, I couldn’t tell. I would guess that it was late in the game.

Today, I, Dr. Starlight Glimmer, have begun my first days here as lead scientist, Archmagus, and Director of Experimental Thaumaturgy here in Ponyville branch of the Ministry of Arcane Science and Technology. I was surprised at my appointment, as the Ministry Mare and I have openly traded discourse regarding the nature of magic in the past in less than professional disagreement, especially as this facility seemed to be a fond project of hers. In these exciting times, it appears that she upholds a principle of meritocracy. Quite noble of her. Perhaps the laws of contagion apply to more than just magic. I have been selected on my expertise and experience in domains and study of psychogenic thaumaturgy and synthesis. The accreditation of my insights based on my dissertations on the Alicorn amulet lends itself well to the focus of the experiments being conducted. It appears that my rise could not have been timed better. Still, as those loud song-singing Morale-ites have eyes and ears in all places, I’ll keep this diary close to my heart, if only for a shred of privacy.

Psychopathic Thaw-my-what now? I knew the prewar was crazy, but apparently you could get professional education in it. So this Starlight was pretty big… I took the book in my hooves and collapsed, back against the desk. It let me keep the hallway in my peripherals. I found myself flipping pages. There were many scribbles and scratch marks along the sides.

Research has been scattered with mixed results. The variety of experiments has been outlandish given the lack of requisitions. The primary experiment ‘Gardens’ has a lot of promising research, given their equipment, but they are muddled in nothing but empty hypotheticals.

Must the MoM keep sending me these ponies? I do not care if whether these terrorist captives are zebra sympathizers or simply anarchists waging war against the kingdom, they have no place in my facility. Regardless of what that friendship enamored Twilight says, the study of Psychogenics disproves the theory of ‘dark magic’. It is the mind that makes the magic, not the other way around. It is not magics fault that it works. Magic does not scar a pony’s mind, they scar their own trying to make magic. The crazed are among the most formidable. Madness and power have a strong link in Psychogenic theory. The heart of magic is not in brain alone. The bleeding heart is a bountiful garden of magic. Those who feel powerfully pave the roads to new magics. Still, these are not masterminds, but tools given a droplet of power. Nothing more. The labs have started to look like a prison with all of our containment zones. I do not mind taking the necessary steps in the name of science, but they serve no purpose here. They take up our space and require our attention, as well as our care so that they do not starve. Some have been known to defecate and urinate in the holding areas. They are distractions and I want them gone.

The more I read in life, the more I realized that nopony knew a damn thing. The other back in the ministry of morale building seemed to clash with this one. They seemed like some MAS pony had told them that dark magics did in fact exist and did make ponies evil. Good and evil… what a joke.

The next couple pages were frantic. Unlike the neat organized pages of before, it was passionately illegible. Torn fragments of page leaf could be seen budding out of the bindings. The pages around it were scratched, the flesh of the paper torn by the frantic writing. It was awful, I couldn’t even read it. It didn’t help that lines were drawn all over it. From the few words I could read, it was very angry, colorfully critical of somepony named Twilight Sparkle, and kept talking about some weird book that apparently was black. Yada yada, it was a mess. The word that most often came up was “Soul”. It was a funky word. Finally, I came to a semi-legible page.

That two-faced bitch… It all makes sense now: the generous offering of a position, abdicating her most prized pet project, the scattered disarray and lack of progress in the experiments. You despised me, didn’t you, Twilight? Giving me the abandoned husk of a failed project… It seemed too good for you to forsake your beloved experiment, but when the facility was forced to relinquish control of those six critical specimens, just before it falls into the abyss, you chain me to its failure. What a comical farce... Now, you send me the psychopathic equine refuse that your society fails to understand, so I have no choice but to humor your outdated theorems on the laws of magic! When you stab a pony in the back, Twilight, it’s improper to blame them for getting blood on your knife. Fine. I accept your punishment… Ha! I’ll take it beyond to places you would never dream. Ponies are fearful these days... if they discovered that Equestria’s most powerful defense was missing, the number of terrorists might just skyrocket. The kingdom would fall apart. Equestria is floating on a bubble in the middle of an unforgiving ocean, and the only thing keeping that bubble from bursting and casting us into an icy abyss is the intoxication with believing a well kept lie. The people want a weapon... the type of thing you would never make. Project Gardens will rise from its ashes, but it will not be your project, Twilight. It will be mine. I’ll give the people the power to grasp hold of what they truly desire. It will call for renovations. I will convince her majesty to accommodate the request. Lady Luna is a princess of the people, she wouldn’t want her citizens to writhe in nightmares over the loss of the elements. We will need equipment more powerful than our own to just observe the nature of the soul. I’ll use those ponies they keep sending us. Perhaps we could use a disposal furnace as well. Finally, they can make themselves useful to me.

… so this was Pharoah’s plan. Taking powerful magic weapons… and throwing them into the irresponsible hooves of the wasteland’s most violent. Oh, they’d love that. You’d think they’d have enough weapons. Promises like the one in the diary worried me. Everything a raider could ever wish for… fuck. There were two things raiders should never have. Power and organization. Pharoah was giving them both, with a pretty little bow on top. What was this “most powerful defense” she mentioned anyway? Didn’t matter. Where were these weapons?

It’s brilliant! I have transcended the barriers of that grand threshold. The idea came from a strange little book I found during my time studying abroad in the Zebra lands. It was an old book that had been passed down for generations. It had been crafted with an alluring script that detailed spell workings governing the realms of the soul. Some called it “necromancy”, but that is a word that carries crude connotations that betray the possibilities. Twilight wanted to understand the nature of those ancient artifacts, but she was too scared to turn to an ancient zebra text on necromancy, fearing that if she got too close to it, that the laws of contagion would bind her to them. Colloquially, it is the magic of the dead, but that is just the nature of how it is used. Animating an object is a common spell among the enlightened, and yet it is not accused of being necromancy. Necromancy refers to the magic governing the brilliant soul. If you wish to understand the magic of the soul, you must understand necromancy. The magic expounded upon within the book was rather quaint. It discussed the capabilities of magic with a single soul. It is limited in that mindset, treating it as a forbidden art. I am not so afraid, and my mind not so encumbered. What becomes possible with the infusion of multiple souls? My mind for Psychogenic thaumaturgy can hardly contain itself. To truly harness those powers, this would be the ultimate way.

‘Damn it, you stupid book! Where the hell is your stupid artifacts.’ I yelled internally as fury built up. This had been a good rest, but I needed to move. Maybe I had to check the computer for more answers.

Okay, let’s face it. That wasn’t happening.

I saw something move from the corner of my eye and jumped to my feet, only to be greeted by a stumbling raider with a blank expression. He was wounded with a terrible gash to the side of his head, and fuck… did he have an extra horn or something? Sharp teeth too… something was eating away at him like an infection or parasite, but he was still breathing. What kind of chicks was this guy trying to impress? The eldritch kind? He had a pale glow to the whites of his eyes. No pupils.

He walked past me like I didn’t exist… like he couldn’t see me. A splatter of blood fell onto the corpse of Starlight.

The blood sank deep into the desiccated flesh. The cadaver flushed with a fresh texture as it drank. The eyes swelled to a proper shape as they turned to me. “Why is it that you can’t stay dead like everypony else…” I muttered under my breath.

“I could say the same to you, my rebellious sacrifice.” A wet tongue said from the barren dead husk. The dry corpse cracked as it lifted itself off the table.

I stepped back from the desk, regrouping to my fridge. “Damn it, why the hell did I have to be so regrettably popular today?”

“Ah…” the corpse said as it seemed to gasp a long indulgent breath. “I had forgotten this dreadful feeling…”

The corpse brought its ragged hooves up to its face. I watched as the dried skin seemed brighten, becoming soft and flexible, as if it had washed back the sands of time. A red glow beneath her hooves quickly tore cavities through them. A pustulous membrane burst, and in bloody explosion, five claw-like structures formed from both stumps. Trickling blood dripped down in a spiral from the tips forming muscles along the sides. With a breaking sound, the muscles clenched ripping the claws free. Those ten claws, crossing over each other, wrapped around the corpse’s head, digging in.

“This terrible sensation I am addicted to…” It said as it dragged the claws down it’s face, the rest of it’s body twitching in rejection of what the mind was telling it to do. She tore the face of the dry corpse clean off. The spilling blood formed a new layer of skin, and from their new hair sprouted, forming a mane and coat. A white coat with a black mane. “After so long, I live.” She said turning to me with holes digging into the pupils of the rejuvenated eyes.

Trembling, I strapped on my fridge and stumbled back. “Who are you?”

“It is I, Hexerai,” she rhymed.

“Then I better make this quick.” I said panting. Before she could take full form, I lunged at her aiming a hoof under the chin. I’d take her apart one piece at a time, and pray she couldn’t die more than once… but I never made it there. A splash of glowing blood burst out of her, and mid-air, the liquid cloud formed into a multi jointed leg, covered in spines. It wrapped around me and flung me into the computer display. I fell to the ground in as crystal glass fragments rained from above.

“Fuck… you’re faster than the other ones.” I said as I strained myself. I had tried to pick myself off the ground, but somehow, using my legs properly had gotten hard. I was shaking. I fell back to the wall. “I guess this is the part where you kill me… It’s long deserved.”

“Why would I do anything like that, Tumbleweed?” Hexerai said as her new grown limb slowly melted away.

“Because you should... ” I spat back.

“I won’t.” She said with a grin.

“Kill me, you insane, second-hoof, body snatching bitch.” I growled. The sickening thought that she wanted me alive pissed me off. “I like this world, there is no way I’m helping you with your stupid plans.”

“You still keep telling yourself that you are so enamored with this wasteland.” She braced herself on the desk as she grasped her head in her claws. She looked like she was having a hangover. “I understand the sentiment, but it does not matter.” She unfurled the digits of her claw as she waved it out towards me. “It is inevitable.”

“What the hell did you just say to me?” I pulled to my hooves and glared back at her. I was sick and tired of hearing about brahmin shit like destiny.

“It is simple fate.” She said as she picked up her head. “Only those blessed with the gifts of fate-weaving can change the future, and only those with oracle’s endowment can even read fortune. I am both and you are neither.”

This was just what I needed to wake up. “Fortunes are just lies about things that haven’t happened yet.” I quipped as I stomped a hoof on the ground. My tail snaked back and forth in anticipation. “Tell the stars to bite me, because I don’t give a damn about your stupid prophesies. So shut up and kill me already.”

“I could fight you, but you won’t die. You aren’t destined to die tonight.” She said as she turned around the room.

“What did you say?” I bawked. I can’t die? What kind of crazy talk is that?

Her eyes kept scanning around the room. “No… You will run away with your life as you watch the ruins burn.

“Are you calling me a coward?” I grit my teeth.

“You will run away like the rat you are, just as you have all those other times.” She said as her claws sifted through the books on the shelf.

“I don’t…” I stumbled as tried to keep my head from boiling over. “I didn’t… I didn’t run.”

“Heroic play does not suit you, Tumbleweed.” Hexerai said as she migrated from one bookcase to another. “You will abandon your so-called friends, and wallow in your self-inflicted agony when you watch them die as you live a tragically long life.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. “I won’t abandon them.”

“Haven’t you already done that? Where are they now?”

Fuck, she got me. No, I didn’t want to believe that.

Tragically long life, huh? “As long as I am living, I am going to celebrate this damn world.” I said as I walked up towards Hexerai. I pulled her from a bookcase by the shoulder and struck her in the face. “Listen to me, damn it!” I shouted. “I am never going to help you and your little plan.” Hey, if I could die, then that would prove her wrong right? I guess I had no reason to hold back.

When Hexerai gazed back at me, I felt a twisted agony wash over me. It was like I was on fire. She leaned forward, pressing up eye to eye with me as her voice descended into something inequine. “Allow me to explain your fate to you.” She said as she gripped her claws around my skull. “Out of the rippling echo of this mid-summer cataclysm will be born a new king of savage raiders.” Hexerai slid her fingers down to grasp my neck. “They will bring with them the insanity and cruelty of the worst of the wasteland, and they will know no equal.” Her grip tightened as her other foreleg wrapped over the top of my head and as she stared death into me. I couldn’t move. “You will live to see this terrible king conquer every last vestige of civilization. They will not destroy this world. It will be a slow and sadistic torment that will forever scar this world.” She tossed me to the ground.

I breathed in and out as I shuddered.

“You will see the suffering and despair, knowing that it is all your fault.” She said as she walked over top of me. Her voice returned to its original tone. “What is fated is inevitable… I am merely offering to spare such a nightmare.” She held her open claw to me. “Submit to me, and we can purge the world of its misery, and you can be absolved of your guilt.”

Quivering, I looked back to her, then to her claw. What real choice did I have? I could feel a harsh reality quaking through my body. I could feel the chains. Inevitably, it was my worst nightmare. I made a decision.

I reached up my hoof. Hexerai took my hoof in her claw as she lifted me up to eye level.

Hexerai smiled. “Good. Together we sha--”

Catching her off guard, I crashed my forehead through her jaw as she started talking. “Kill me, bitch!” I slammed my head into her again. “Shut up and kill me!” I thrashed and kicked as she struggled to throw me off of her. I gave a smug grin as I lay on the ground.

“As you wish… That determined spirit is quite attractive. I do not despise you for it.” Hexerai said as she brushed away the mane from her eyes, and her wounds sealed.

“First of all, you had my face too damn close. You have the breath of a century and a half of death.” I said as I circled around. “Second, you keep ignoring me, and I don’t like that.”

“You keep acting like a child.” Hexerai said as she glanced over the desk. She brushed the papers and folders aside as she searched in and around things.

“Put it in a letter, Twilight Sparkle!” I cut in.

Hexerai growled as she knocked everything off the top of the desk as she searched.

“Threesies, the one thing I really admire is your tenacity. You have to be special kind of stupid to not take a hint.” I said with scowl. “And listen the hell up, because this is the important one…” I pointed a hoof adamantly to my glaring eye. “Nopony! Not you! Not your Twinkle Twinkle Horoscopes! Not any damn thing that can speak language… tells me what to do!”

Hexerai ripped open the cabinets of the desk one after another. “Will you be quiet? Aghhh!” Hexerai flipped the desk, sending clattering across the tiles. She threw down one of the bookcases and began patting down the walls.

I circled around to the open door to the facility. As I watched her tear the room apart, I whistled. “Hey…”

Hexerai continued to tear apart the office until she caught a glimpse of the little book I had resting in my hooves. She stopped everything to look at me.

“Looking for something?” I said with a grin.

Her eyes widened as she clenched her claws together. “Give that to me….”

“Or what? You gonna kill me?” I said, cocking an eyebrow up.

Hexerai dashed for the door as I slammed on a big red panic button by the doorway. I slipped through the door as the partition came crashing down.

“Suck inevitability, bitch.” I shouted through the door.

“You can’t change anything. I’ll kill those two first.”

“What?” My heart dropped into my stomach.

“The zebra and the crystal pony you seem to think of as friends.”

I stomped my hoof. “Alright, go ahead. Try. I won’t let you.”

“The champions of Cadance and Celestia will die.” She yelled.

“That will be hard to do from the inside of an impenetrable metal box.” I yelled cupping my hooves to the bulkhead. As soon as I finished saying it, a bony spike slammed through the metal door. “Well that’s not even fair…”

I bolted down the halls as Hexerai kept striking away at the partition. It all came back to what I came to this little hell hole for. I was looking for a friend, and this time, I knew where I was going.

*** *** ***

I heard the sounds of gunfire burst loud just in front of me. It was rare that I grinned so much when doing something as stupid as running towards the sounds of gunshots. It was undeniable. That clinking sound, that tacky poncho, that ridiculous hat. He didn’t get very far from where I saw him on the display in the Director’s Office.

“Hey, bastard!” I called out to the hobbling mass of pretense.

Calypto turned rigidly. He had the empty visage of a zombie, except he was like an arrogant zombie. The undead never needed a hoof to the face so badly. He stared viciously at me with tired eyes, raising his revolver without recourse.

It roared out again and again.

As the bullets bounced off my shield, I stampeded up close into his space. With a little too much enthusiasm, I struck a heavy hoof right between the smug ridge in his grin and the self-important look in his eyes.

“Wake the hell up, Calypto!”

“Wha-… who’in the, and the mmrmgh, monkeys...” Calypto muttered incoherently before frantically breaking out of fatigue’s spell. “What the hell was that for?!” He growled as his usual hubris was brought out of that deep meditation.

“That was justice swooping in wide from three hours ago. Shooting me earlier? That’s a party foul, amigo.” I said with a grin. That was something he could understand. It was just great to see him alive and doing his thing. That’s what I was thinking, until I saw that shamelessly drooling face hanging loosely over closed eyes.

I slapped the stripes off of him. “Justice doesn’t sleep, Calypto!”

I saw Calypto start to raise his gun again as the rusty gears in his head were grinding along. My hoof crashed against his face again. “Don’t autopilot on me either!”

“I’m awake, I’m awake. Stop hitting me!”

I hit him again!

“Fuck, what was that for?!”

“That’s because we’re friends!” I said cheerfully as Calypto’s eyes widened. “It’s so good to see you. We got to get…”

Before I could finish the thought Calypto pushed me over as the whipping blade struck across his hat.

Hexerai’s gaunt body turned from Calypto as the flesh around her shoulders blossomed open, revealing rows of grotesque fangs. The lab coat she was wearing was ripped and bulging from her body underneath. Her legs were bulkier with more pronounced joints from having longer bones. She might have absorbed something along the way. She towered over me with so much enjoyment on that relaxed face. This was fun for her.

“I want you to understand just how insigni…”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang out from behind Hexy, but she scoffed as she turned, but before she could talk, she was interrupted.

“Tumbleweed!” Calypto called out. “Who is this beautiful fuck?”

I groaned on the ground as I arched my head towards Calypto. When Hexerai turned her head, I threw her off me with a kick to the hip joint and a vigorous sweeping kick across both legs. I rolled to the opposite side of her. “This is Hexerai… met her in a dream. She is awful. Target with extreme prejudice, she is a total bitch.”

“Did you just say Hexerai?” Calypto nearly fell over as he leaned back onto his bad leg.

Hexerai bristled with spikes as she reversed her joints to pick herself up. She laughed. “It seems you’ve heard of me.”

Calypto poked the brim of his hat up to squint at me directly. “What kind of technicolor pony brahmincrap did you do to get the zebra boogiemare to come after you?”

Hexerai’s coat bulged into a boney carapace. “What did you call me?”

“She’s a witch that hide under the beds of naughty zebra. Eat ‘em alive. Every zebra knows that.” Calypto laughed as he pulled down his visor. “Shit’s creepy.”

“Tch… Celestia plays vain tricks…” Hexerai said with a scowl.

“I don’t make this shit up.” Calypto shrugged with a wry grin.

Her lab coat ripped into shreds as sharp spidery legs burst out from her back. “I’ll kill you later.” She said, glaring at Calypto. She turned to me. “Give me the book.”

I shuffled back. She couldn’t kill me, but she could probably almost kill me, and that might be worse than actual death. She thrusted with her back spikes, but she flew off course as she reached for her heart with her claws. She began to writhe and spasm as she fell to the floor.

As Calypto stepped away, he pulled the twisted horn-shaped tool out from torso, struggling to get it free from between the bones. The glowing blood had congealed solid. Hexerai heaved, trying to strike at me from the ground. “Tumbleweed. You need to stop pissing off ponies I can’t shoot.”

“It’s not my fault I keep discovering these new species of radroach. It just happens. I’m a pioneer of science.” I said as I tried to catch my breath.

“It is the middle of the night…” Calypto groaned.

“Well sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

“At least don’t do it after 11:00 pm.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded.

Despite all expectations, Hexerai was frozen. I kicked her with a hoof and jumped back, but she didn’t do anything on contact. “Damn, what did you do?”

“Nothing but a little shaman magic… Snake venom. Coagulates the blood.” He said with a grin.

I looked down at the puffy and swollen Hexerai taking joy at the view from up above her. I stomped a hoof down on her, then again, and again. “Where is your prophesy now? I said brushing a hoof through my hair. Then it came to me! There was a lot to catch up on. I turned to Calypto. “I thought you should know, I found those ponies you wanted to save.” I said.

I could see the knowledge fortify Calypto and give him strength. Just knowing that his instincts weren’t wrong was enough to empower him. It was better than a potion. “I guess the writing on the wall did me right…”

As the spirit that gave him strength settled in him, like a magic flash, Calypto’s face soured as he brought both hooves to the side of his head. “That’s right! I’ve got eggs!” He said as his balance toppled over to his weak side. Something had hurt his leg.

“Woah, are you alright?” I rushed over to him.

“I’m fine.” He said, not so much lying as stubborn, grabbing at the pain of his broken leg. He rolled over, and started taking to his hooves. As I reached to help him up, he locked his fore arm around mine. “I need your fridge.” He said pulling me close.

“What for?”

“I have eggs.” He said looking side to side as stress rolled down his face. “Like a dozen of them.”

He’s gone full circle! The moon got to him or something. It was clear that justice needed to sleep. The zebra needed Zs. “What? Why do you have eggs?”

“I’ve got a plan.” He said with a maniacal grin.

“A plan for what?”

“Justice.”

I don’t know why I bothered asking. “Calypto, are you okay to go on?”

“I’m just getting started with these raiders. You said I couldn’t shoot ‘em all, but now I have eggs!”

What did eggs have to do with anything? I sighed in confusion. What happened…

“We have to be careful, or the eggs will break. Few things are worse in this wasteland than a broken egg. That’d ruin my day.” Calypto said as he furrowed his brow, concentrating on being awake.

“Calypto, I think you’ve simmered a little too long.”

Just as I was shaking my head, Calypto’s leaned forward his eyes gaping wide. “Great celestial googly moogly...”

Hexerai had planted a five fingered claw down, pushing herself up as her body festered and steamed with a wretched odor. She wrenched herself up from the ground bearing rows of sharp teeth. We couldn’t stop her. How do you stop something that never dies? “What a nice little trick, but it won’t work again. We are the unborn, the ultimate lifeform unbound.”

“The viper venom didn’t work… how…?” Calypto cursed.

“We have to get out of here.” I said dashing down the hall... but Calypto didn’t follow. I turned back to see him hobbling. He gave me a grave look.

A part of me sank inside. Was there no other way to get away? Prophesy…

You will abandon your so-called friends, and wallow in your self-inflicted agony when you watch them die as you live a tragically long life.

I didn’t want it to come to this. Not again… not so soon.

I looked at the monster that was Hexerai, then looked back to Calypto. I knew what I had to do. It was hard decision, but I guess it was the only choice. No time to be stupid about it.

“Get on, Loser!” I said rushing in toward the two of them. I scooped Calypto off of his hooves. The weight in my tail whipped across Hexerai’s temple as I passed in front of her. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Yah!” Calypto added, shoving a spur in my side.

Damn everything in my life, why were we doing this again!? Fate was laughing at me, but we were going to make it through this.

I broke into a full gallop; a few corners would be all it took to make our escape. It was slower, but I wasn’t losing Calypto. Running past the window, several of the black and green plants slammed into the side of the thin barrier. I just kept running. This was going to be harder with so much extra luggage.

I passed around the corner only to find a small group of raiders. The unicorn of the group was raising their gun to shoot when his head burst open with a loud bang.

“Keep running.” Calypto said before shooting again.

Bounding on, I traveled through the mass as Calypto picked them like it was easy. I couldn’t help grinning. This was nice! Shortest fight I’ve ever had! Maybe this wasn’t so bad. It was still criminally ridiculous, but it was also ridiculously effective.

“Good to see you’re awake up there.”

“Damn straight, my face is still stinging!”

Alright, we could make this work!

“So you never answered my question.” Calypto said only pausing to take a shot. “Why is she trying to kill you… Go right.” Calypto said, directing me away from the passage that said ‘Containment’. It was a decent call.

“It’s been an eventful day. There was ritual thing, I think I got sacrificed or something… was saved by suicidal cocktail of drugs, and now the fucking moon is out and people can’t stay dead.” I said as I strained my face in embarrassment. “It’s kind of a long story. Have you been outside?”

“So that was all your fault. I should have known.” Calypto said as he reloaded his cylinders. I charged into a group of raiders. There was no way around but over, so I ran over the tops of two raiders faces. Calypto shot several dead as we passed, before Hexerai came bounding through them.

We had to keep going. She was faster than us, but she wasn’t built for turns. Had to keep going... Turn one corner, then another. Dead end. Fuck. Double back.

Hexerai chased us into a small briefing room. I climbed up onto a plateau of desks as the sleek and refined form of Hexerai stormed in. “End of the line. Stop running away from things that won’t change.”

There was no such thing as luck, and I was going to prove it. She was built for forward speed and acceleration. She wasn’t built for bizarre terrain. Calypto knocked over a bookcase, which awkwardly found itself in the cracks between the desks. We threw chairs up and around just to create more obstacles. “If things were truly inevitable, then why are you taking so much effort to chase us.” I said as I tossed a rolling chair at her.

Hexerai’s forehooves split into four hooves. They coated themselves with armored scales and muscles. Each one looked like the head of some kind of deformed beast. “You have me mistaken. Fate is absolute, but the method is whimsical. This is merely the sport of the hunt. Even if you know what is going to happen, there is beauty in seeing the pieces unfold.”

As Hexerai tried to step up onto the first row of desks, I jumped onto the top half of the bookcase that was wedged under it like a lever. The desk flipped up and knocked Hexerai back.

Calypto raised up the snake venom horn in one hoof, and a wreath of some plant in the other. “I hunted a false goddess today. I made her feel mortality as she ran with her tail between her legs.” He said as he took a stern glare.

“Psst. Calypto.” I whispered. “That false goddess was her gopher. “

Calypto continued to hold his stoic front. “Then maybe you should tell her to find a real goddess that doesn’t crack under pressure next time.”

Hexerai built up her arms into thick, bloody axe-like wedges. She cleaved straight through the desks with a powerful strike. She climbed over a mess of debris stepping into an open space with us in it. “And what do you hope to accomplish?”

Calypto raised the horn up to the ceiling, letting the lights reflect off the silver revolver hidden under the coiling bone. “This.”

Clash! The light shattered as the room fell into darkness. Everything was built on a gamble. I dashed over the wrecked obstacles and through the door. Calypto pulled a bookcase across to block the exit. I even closed the door for good measure. We took a moment even to wave to Hexerai from the window, as we passed down the hall. Hexerai hacked through the debris, but had trouble fitting through the door. That was all according to plan. She had built up too much towards speed at first, so we made her adapt to terrain. She bulked up to cut through it, but it wasn’t very good for mobility, so she had to jettison it all. She was a ways behind, and she didn’t have as much to kill us with as before.

“So I told you about my exciting adventures, how was your day?” I asked as we rampaged through the halls. Through a window, Calypto shot at some raiders that weren’t even in the same hallway as us. I couldn’t stop him I guess.

“You want to know?” Calypto asked hesitantly. Hesitation was rare out of him.

“Yeah, I’m ready for anything.” I said as I ran.

“Well, I think I might have been exalted by the universe to be some kind of hero.” Calypto said as he took a look back.

“You think?” I almost tripped at how ridiculous he sounded. Of course I hesitated! Even I thought he was crazy!

Calypto almost lost his hat in the turbulence. “I don’t know.” Calypto grumbled as he tried to get a ring of bullets into his revolver, which was harder on horseback. “I am… very tired.”

“With everything that’s happened tonight, I am willing to give some benefit of the doubt.”

“I think we lost her.” Calypto said as he glanced back. “We broke line of sight, just get around this corner.”

It was simple, we could just duck inside one of the side rooms, and she would run past us. It pushed me faster, but the strange fragments of ice that were scattered across the floor gave me an unsettling sensation.

As we rounded the corner, I realized that sensation was right. A grisly gallery of frozen stalagmites stuck in the ground lined the passageway. One spiky set of armor held together the shattered pieces tall, even as the head had fallen to the ground. At the end of the pathway, a composite turret, with a large barrel protruding just below the talisman based cannon, twitched as it came to life and set its aim upon us.

I could survive this if I was alone, but I couldn’t shield both Calypto and myself. Calypto would be left open. We had to turn back.

I drove out back the way we came as the cerulean spell sliced through the air, encasing the wall in a thick layer of ice.

We both cursed, but we needed to backtrack. There wasn’t even a hole to hide in, and the lighting was good enough that Calypto would stand out like a sore thumb. As we raced back to the last intersection, Hexerai barreled down the hallway.

“Fuck inevitability.”

Author's Notes:

Starlight Glimmer, Scapegrace's debtors, the season 4 plants, and sweet lovable Hexerai!

This one took so many edits to get through, and I don't think we even got everything that could be in there. There is a lot of content cut because its really just throwing around tertiary background lore, and that's more of a feature beneficial to games rather than a story.

We finally introduced Hexerai. Sexy Hexy! This is the heart of the arch. All major actors have been introduced for the arch. Well, there may be one or two left to talk about, but we are moving towards the climax of the arch. Big thanks to Nasty Hooves for being the best editor a writer could ask for. We made so many great changes to make this section really pop.

This section had been first written almost a year ago, but my editor had looked at Hexerai's initial introduction back in the finale of chapter 3 and found her to be really boring. She was disguising herself as some nebulous psuedo-god and was sort of a pretentious big bad without a lot of character. Between my editor and I, we decided to make her more witty and upfront about who she is, because I can't have you wondering what the deal is with the villain, they are an important part of the story! I wanted her to be flexible and with a lot of potential to become scarier as the story goes on. I think she comes off as a more formidable baddy than before, but man, putting in those changes basically meant I had to rewrite a lot of the entirety of chapter 4.

The next section should be the end of chapter 4, so get hyped for Chapter 4's finale.