Joker's Wild
Chapter 3 Part 4 STAR CROSSED TOWN--
[Does It Hurt When You Bite Your Tail?]

“So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how dead do you think Tumbleweed is?”

Calypto gave Scapegrace a quizzical look. “What do you mean?” He asked, fetlocks deep in a filing cabinet. It was a completely valid question, but I would have still taken offense.

“I mean, we basically abandoned him with a ponified steam roller,” (that I made friends with…) “He doesn’t stand a chance.” Scapegrace said, having zero faith in my abilities.

“He’ll be fine.” Calypto said as he skimmed through countless leaves of files, searching for something of note, but each venture coming up dry. Calypto sneered at the yellowing scroll reading ‘In honor of it’s local heroes, Ponyville proudly supports war effort by supplying the construction equipment to build new ministry branches.’ It was worthless script to him. All of it was worthless, and it just felt wrong to have his head in something so far in the past.

“That pony is a thoroughbred line crosser! He is going to get himself killed!” Scapegrace said while she chiseled the gold lining from an office name plate.

“He has a drive, and he has a strong star looking over him. He said he’ll partner with me, so he better not die.” Calypto smirked as something caught his eye. Reaching deep into the cabinet, he clawed at the bottom relentlessly. “If that rat wants to die, I’ll drag his soul right out of hell.” He said, scraping the small sum of caps from the bottom of the cabinet.

“Right…” Scapegrace sighed skeptically.

“That isn’t a joke, I’ll grab his weedy little spirit flank and bring it top side.” Calypto laughed. I certainly had some interesting choice of friends. “Besides, he has that …” You know it’s a refrigerator, you striped tool! “… refrigerator thing. He will be fine.”

“It really hurts me to see him abuse high technology like that, he is a real fool.” Scapegrace pouted over misaligned desk. Pulling one drawer free after another, only to empty them out, Grace threw herself into a pile of documents. Calypto raised an eyebrow at her. “MAW might, but the Ministry of Arcane Sciences and Ministry of Wartime Technology don’t just create nearly indestructible ice boxes.”

“Things are what they are good for.” Calypto shrugged.

“Well maybe he can cheat death just a little bit.” Scapegrace said breaking free of the now sifted mountain of documents. It was an endless trove, but nothing so far being particularly useful. She busted out her lock picks as she set sights on a cabinet. She sighed. “That cheeky bastard gets to me. He better stay living, I’ve got a beating with his name on it for all the trouble he’s caused me.” She said, rolling her eyes as she spun the ring of lock picks around her hoof.

Scapegrace couldn’t see the terrifying creature she had summoned up behind her. A fiendish smile crawled across the zebra’s face. He leaned over her, his hat casting a shadow. “Oh? Having conflicting thoughts? Some leaky pipe in the heart?” Calypto added pedantically.

Scapegrace’s crystal coat popped with a rosy color. The hairs on her tail jolted up on end at the thought. “Hey, don’t get the wrong idea! He is a nice guy, but he pisses me off.”

“He does have a face for hitting…”

“I just want to… want to…” Scapegrace mumbled off as she tried to focus her efforts into picking the lock.

“Crush him?” Calypto said with a venomous guile.

The mere mention of the word made her jump. The audible snap of jamming tumblers made Scapegrace turn a cross glare at Calypto. Calypto snickered.

“I was beginning to wonder what you were doing tagging along…” Kicking a cabinet, a wave of papers poured out across a desk in front of me. Calypto cocked back his head. “You haven’t got the death wish. Mouseheart.”The zebra said with a smug malice. He began folding the edges of one of the prewar documents. “Such a logical pony with an override of the brain by the heart.” Having finished the heart shaped paper airplane, he then sent it flying past Scapegrace.

As it crashed at the wall, it dropped lifelessly to the ground.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here.” With a sigh, the color bled from her coat, leaving her pale. She shook her head as she searched to find better words. Less painful words. “I’ve hit gold. As far as the markets care, this is premium data.” she said pushing closed a cabinet.

A smirk was rude. A laugh was cruel. Calypto did both. “Not enough is it?”

All of her tensions were reflected in her eyes and in her movements. “I have a mission… no, I don’t... but I’m trying to do something with a lot more at stake. The MAS building is a death trap, but seeing the two of you be so gung ho towards the whole situation makes me think I could actually get in there…” Leaning against the cabinet, She crossed her hooves as she buried her head in them. “I think you both are crazy. I think I’m crazy for staying this long… but…” Scapegrace said, lost in a cloud of thoughts.

“Do as you like…” He said as he waltzed away, his spurs ringing with every step. Stopping at the wall, he began to dig at the ground. The shuddering sound of scraping and clinking metal crawled in under Scapegrace’s skin. “I don’t really care whether it’s because you have an eager heart or something deficient in your brain. Whatever makes you move is fine…” Calypto trailed off with a shrug. As he left a vacuous moment, the energy in his eyes shifted. His stripes ruffled as his hair rose with his subtle agitation, and he spoke. “...but all this wavering is making me sick.”

Scapegrace’s rosy coat paled as she grit her teeth, but Calypto turned back his head, throwing back the shade of his hat, clearing way to his eyes. He shot her a mixed grin.

“If you are going to stay, stay... If you are going to run, run. Just don’t hesitate... If you do, you’re just going to get killed.” Calypto said as the ticking in his head got to him. “All of this is boring junk!” The bastard said, knocking the cabinet to the ground. The sound launched Scapegrace’s hooves zooming back to her chest. “This is getting us nowhere. We should check somewhere else.”

“I think I am starting to see what Tumbleweed sees in you. You are well grounded.” Scapegrace turned to Calypto.

By this point, Calypto had dug a small hole in the ground. “Yeah, whatever. I’m done with this room. Somepony’s moving around upstairs and I’m gonna spell their doom!” He said, emphasizing his little rhyme. Clapping his spurs to the ground, he set out the doorway and down the hallway, kicking aside a desk that had, to its misfortune, found itself in his way.

The mare twisted a frown. “Hey, I’m trying to show some appreciation.”

“Appreciate while you walk!” The impatient clinking of his spurs marked his path down the decrepit corridor. A muffled sound and stirring dust were potent things that made the ticking in the zebra’s head throb. Sense was all that made him, and it drove him in search of demons. That was the kind of zebra that he was.

Calypto drew an ear to the wall as he met the threshold before the stairs. The sounds of empty nothings came. It gave him confidence. He raced up to the next floor, sliding from wall to wall, alert to the inherent danger. The old floors offered great tells of the motions ahead, as they creaked and bent exposing something more within.

Blood and dust were in the air, but it was of a particular cocktail. The smell was...different. It was a sort of pungent odor. Not the familiar stench a wasteland life came to know…. Ghoul blood? It wasn’t much to figure it out. There were sounds of metal meeting metal, clashing through the ramshackle office. Black blood dripped down the frayed wood of the broken door, pooling down the faint grooves made from clawing hooves. The door barely held up against the wall, a blade holding up the corpse of a ghoul against the door. Just beyond, the hall opened up into an office lobby. Calypto ducked as a wave of green flames blasted through the doorway, deflecting off of his iron hat.

A familiar white unicorn mare, that renegade mercenary, kicked a wide desk over, sending the lacerated corpse toppling to the ground. She reared back fighting against the green chain around her neck as a pulse of fire danced down the links of the chain. Even so, the mare showed no fear. It was as if she had no mind at all. Roar! The bursting buckshot from her floating shotgun ripped through the arcane chains before the flames could get near her. “Pinkie didn’t tell me to kill you. Guess you are extra.” Dropping down as if to pounce, that mare brandished the blade and gun in a telekinetic hold. She had a strange glowing aura flowing from her eyes.

“I think I might be-in love with love, please love don’t shoot me~” The radio by the wall sang out as the mercenary mare dashed into action. A blast from the shotgun flew clear of anything but the wall. A hooded figure threw herself for cover as the mercenary climbed over the desk like some kind of wolf. Maybe more of a slobbering dog…

The hooded green mare wasn’t going to give the bitch a chance. The ambient ring of magic resonated from her long elegant horn as she wrapped a line of chain around the mercenary’s hoof. Shouting as her horn’s light bolstered, Midnyte’s chain dragged the pony over. The merc tumbled across the ground. The mercenary’s telekinetic grip shattered as she fell to the floor. Midnyte leapt over to kick the shotgun to the corner of the room.

"Ce-les-tia, I think I could die. My baby is the reason why! I’m bleeding too much happiness, I couldn’t stop it even if I tried.” The next verse came in with blaring brass. Midnyte lacked the speed to finish off the merc, when she tried to stomp down on her, she had already rolled out. Midnyte barely dodged the swipe of a blade, but the merc rose in with a double legged buck, knocking her back.

“Her love, I’m too addicted. See these burns I’ve been afflicted?”

The mercenary rose with a grin as her horn hurled a wave a debris. Before she could manifest a burst of fire, Midnyte took the brunt of a computer monitor, sending her skidding to the ground as it busted into pieces. Spell chucking cone heads in the wasteland always seemed to have this problem. They had magic that was straight up magnificent and terrifying, but under pressure, they were all hooves as much as anypony else. The magic would just slip right off the horn, sputtering out and going nowhere.

“I went to dance~ thinking I could not be caught…”

Midnyte scrambled out, trying to dodge both a lamp and a paperweight. Even as Midnyte disappeared behind cover, the mind tossing merc ripped a curved blade out from another corpse beside her. “That pre-war mare was right about this being fun. I’ll cut you up. Hell, I might keep your head as a personal trophy.”

“Romance ~ man, that wasn’t not nothing but a thought…”

The mere mention of trophies sent Calypto’s blood boiling. Peeking around the corner, he opened fire on the mercenary, but she dashed out of the way as if they knew what would happen. At the sight of his stripes, the merc grinned. “You again?” Just from the expression on her face, Calypto knew she had wanted the chance to kill him last time. As she turned toward him, a chain lashed out around the crazed bladepony, gagging her mouth.

The mercenary’s barding met the ground as the faintly glowing chain links spiraled around, constricting her against the floorboard. From the ground, the mercenary mare’s horn sparked, flinging a blade toward Midnyte, who had poked free of cover in the diversion. Midnyte’s spell fractured at the burst of pain, and the unicorn leapt through the frail bindings brandishing a vortex of blades. Midnyte turned back towards her opponent, and in a bright pulse of her horn, an orb of fire burst towards the mercenary’s head.

“With a glance~ A thousand walls to the ground she brought.”

The mercenary reflexively aligned her blades in a panel, and in one full body turn deflected the sphere behind her. She grinned, charging forward on the coattails of the explosion, but her enthusiasm soured as the sensation of heat changed. Tongues of flames transformed into solid chains pulling her back. A second burst of magic lit burning rockets at the ends of two loose lengths of chain. Quickly spinning around the mercenary, the chains coiled around her, wrapping her from mane to flank. With a glare, a stomp and a flash of magic the chains burst into flames.

“She was hell of a shot! I didn’t stand a chaaaaaaance!~”

Even as the smoking flesh formed into cinders, the thing that caught Calypto’s attention were the bodies on floor, most notably the shape of a mutilated ghoul upon a table reaching for the radio. Calypto clenched his teeth before Midnyte could turn around.

She cried out in pain, as the bullet rent through armor at such close range. On a mental twitch of muscle, she launched a small flaring spark that phased into a chain that looped around Calypto’s neck. Just as Calypto lined up a second, more lethal shot, he saw the change in attitude reflected in her eyes down the sights of his revolver. Fear? No, something softer. The chains faded from his neck, and she reached out.

“Wait.” She called out just before the gun unleashed another ear shattering bang. She flinched, expecting the worst, but the moment passed. Trembling she muttered, “I don’t want to fight.”

“Tch...”

The long horned mare gasped as she tried to calm her head. He didn’t know why he missed. It was a stupid move trusting strangers in a place like this.

“Consider that a once in a lifetime miracle.” Calypto said as he lowered the barrel of the gun. “You should stay away from here.”

“Ahhgn...” Midnyte winced at the hole in her armor.

“You should probably get the bullet out first.” Calypto said, taking a step towards her. “Do you mind if I help with that?”

“No, not at all.” Midnyte gave a slight smile. She removed her cloak as well as her barding revealing a rather illustrious coat and a slender physique. Red was pouring out. The wound was small, but the bleeding was profuse. The mare concentrated her magical faculties, drawing a telekinetic nimbus around the bullet, but the pain of pulling out the bullet tore through her focus shattering the glassy structure of spell dust.

Calypto, with a stealthy, gentlecoltly glance, noticed her cutie mark. It was a heart on fire, with a robust crack down the center. The two halves of the heart were held together by chains. Clearly, this glance had nothing to do with the natural magnetism of eyes towards the female form or the shapes of those magical places of stallion’s fantasies.

“Yeah, you’re going to need some help.” Calypto smiled. Finally, somepony to save… Just seeing a face made his fight a little easier. The zebra fashioned a pair tweezers from his bag. Both in bullets and in blood, he would carve justice into a vicious world, but moments like this were healing for him. Peace was a distant dream, and for all the justice he poured into that chasm, it was only a drop in an endless well. Calypto was an impatient kind of zebra. In a battle with no end in sight, these moment would replenish that will to fight. “Do you have a name?”

“My name’s Midnyte.”

“Well, Midnyte. This... is gonna hurt.”

“I’d be surprised if it didn’t…”

Midnyte clenched her teeth and brushed a hoof to the ground to quell the pain. After a bit of tactile probing, the metal tongs yanked the deformed bullet from of the wound. Midnyte gasped in pain.

With a slight glow, Midnyte manifested a miniscule length of chain, and with a weaving touch, placed stitch after stitch around the wound. With a pull, the flesh formed together. In another magical flash, a line of searing metal cauterized the flesh shut.

“That’s quite a trick.” Calypto said, looking on with surprise.

“Don’t call an art form a trick. This is the result of so many years of training.” She said, sweating at her mental strain. She tried to catch her breath. “One last one.”

She closed her eyes in concentration, repeating the same process for the knife wound. Painful moans escaped her mouth as she devoted all her concentration on the spell.

“Hey, Calypto, I think I found some interesting…” Scapegrace said came around the corner. The almost nude Midnyte caught Scapegrace mid-sentence, making her flush red in panic, maybe a little yellow as well. A torrent of papers and projectile clipboard filled the air as Scapegrace tripped over her own gawking disbelief. “I am so sorry!” She said as she scrambled out of the room.

Calypto and Midnyte gave each other a quizzical look. Calypto’s powerful ears managed to catch the murmured words, “Damn, Calypto! You work fast.”

To be honest, I didn’t know how he did it. I feel like I got the short end of the stick. So far, he seemed to have an affinity for the ladies. More research would be necessary to develop a proper conclusion. That would be something for the Alcohol induced Junktown Pub of Science to ponder….

“Wait… was that?” She whispered to herself. “It couldn’t be…” Scapegrace muttered again. Taking a shrewd peek back, her face took upon a dark purple tint as she shouted in complete awe. “That’s that mare that was with Killjoy!”

Something broke in Calypto. A vein popped in his head, and he lost control. He kicked the mare over gritting his teeth in rage. “You’re a raider?!” He raised his gun without any hesitation. He couldn’t stand liars. “I’m putting this bullet right back where it belongs!” With a clench of his teeth, the cylinder rotated and the hammer fell.

Click.

“Wait. I don’t want to fight you. There is no reason to fight.” Midnyte pleaded with desperate eyes as she backed away.

Reason came to Calypto as he saw the eyes. She was a raider, that was enough to warrant killing her by his rules. A zebra without code is like a zebra without stripes, he thought to himself. It was something grounding, and unchanging. Protect the innocent, and hunt the wicked. It was something truly easy in his mind, but raiders seldom had names and faces to associate with them, and usually they did not call out for truces. “That’s hot shit! All I see is a raider. Why should I show you mercy?” He said, as he loaded a hoof full of bullets into the cylinder.

“You don’t know anything about me. You don’t know anything about where I come from. You don’t know anything about Tough Cookie either!” She shouted back defensively as she looked for a way out.

“A raider is still a raider, no matter how you cut it.” Calypto argued back as he spun the now bullet heavy cylinder.

“Some of us aren’t raiders because we choose to be, but rather because we need to be.”

“I don’t care about your reasons!” Calypto shouted in anger. Calypto fired his revolver, but Scapegrace tackled into him, wrestling for control. Calypto literally could not seem to keep the mares off of him. Why did it happen? What’s the technique?

“She doesn’t want to fight, so let’s hear her out! We can’t afford to have more enemies.” Scapegrace said as she blocked Calypto’s shot.

“I haven’t got any mercy for a merciless raider.” Calypto cursed.

“Tough Cookie isn’t going to like me saying this, but we come from a town that lost a lot of its able bodied. We have elderly. We have children, and only so many who can support themselves. We don’t have the knowledge to develop agriculture, and since we were a splinter group from the only near by town, we can’t engage in trade. We raid as we need to feed and protect our families. This is the world we have been given. So, yes… I’m a raider, but before I am a raider. I am a pony.”

The concept was hard for Calypto to grasp. It was not that he didn’t understand the words, but the nuance laid in a gray area that he refused to acknowledge. It shocked him. “A raider is a raider.”

“How fitting… A zebra that only sees in black and white.” Midnyte said as she grimaced at the situation.

“I see all these bodies on the ground, how am I supposed to believe you are innocent?”

“I found that mad pony tearing into that ghoul at the radio. I had to pull her off of them. I swear this is how it was.”

“Likely story...” Calypto quipped sarcastically.

“Hey, Midnyte is everything okay? I heard gunfire so I thought I’d…” A turquoise mare with a heavy-battle saddle armed with miniguns on the sides trotted in the room. It was like Calypto had some kind of magnetism for mares. “What the… Drop your weapon, punk!” The new mare added.

Calypto raised his other hoof and brandished his second revolver, pointing it straight at the mare.

“That is like the exact opposite of what I told you to do!”

“Don’t shoot him, Marina.” Midnyte said.

“Don’t try to protect this raping scumbag, Midnyte.” Marina quipped.

“Raping scumbag?” Calypto turned his head at the comment with enough momentum to sent his hat tilting off center, nearly going free of his head.

“It’s clear to anypony with eyes. My friend has the clothes ripped off of her, and you’re pointing a gun at her. You’re trying to rape her at gunpoint!”

“Huh…” Calypto stared in bewilderment, just trying to understand what he was being accused of, as he pushed his hat back into position with the shiny tip of his revolver.

Marina flicked her tail to the side as she dropped stance down low. “Get ready to look like pumice you striped freak.” She shouted with palpable contempt.

“Don’t even try it!” Calypto yelled. Narrowing his brow he shot a glare at the new, battle saddled mare in front of him. “My bullets will hit before your guns can warm up.” Calypto threatened. Calypto squinted with all his judgment. Who brings a minigun to a quick draw? To a stand off?

“He wasn’t trying to rape me. All he has done is helped me remove a bullet.”

“That counts as rape, Midnyte!”

“With tongs…”

The battle-saddled mare gave a skeptical look. “I think that still counts as rape.” She threw her hooves over a desk to lean closer to Midnyte. “I told you, you need to wear more spikes on your armor! You need to show them that the rose has thorns!” Her eyes were wide, with dire honesty. They spoke something of wounds.

I didn’t know how he did it. Why was it that I got stuck wrestling with a naked, sweaty, death machine of a stallion, and he gets to deal with all these mares fighting over him? Damn it, Calypto!

As the bickering continued, the instrumental music on the radio came to an end, and a charismatic voiced played out over the radio speakers. Calypto cringed. Midnyte sighed. And Scapegrace facehooved.

How’s it going, Wasteland? You still alive out there? What’s that?... uh huh. Well at least you’re trying! Ol’ Pon-3’s got present for ya! Now for another installation of my reoccurring radio series, “Places I would steer my post-apocalyptic ass away from!” Today’s little hellhole I’d like to stay the hell away from is the region in the region of the Canterlot Wasteland’s very own Ponyville. First off, the smell is just awful. It’s a crime against ya nostrils. It stinks fierce. If you count yourself among those who enjoy breathing, this is not the place for you. The place also has hell of a weed problem. They kill the other plant life, they kill the view, they kill the little critters running around, and most of all, they kill ponies. They pretty much kill everything. It’s just nasty. You heard it here folks, don’t feed the plants! Last and probably most important thing is this, there is nothing there! Nothing! Nada! Go Fish! Nothing to scavenge, nothing to eat, nothing to get. Their aren’t even ponies to raid from. With all this bad mojo, I don’t even know why you would want to go there! So, remember, this is DJ- Pon3 saying keep your irradiated-wasteland snout clear of Ponyville. It’s just common sense.

Just as the message was coming to a close, a burning chain and bullet struck the radio sending it flipping off of the table and howling in static.

Calypto and Midnyte looked at each other, and the tension fell apart as they started giggling at each other.

Calypto lowered his gun. “I can’t be mad at somepony who hates Pon-3.” He said.

“He gives us a hard time, and he doesn’t get all the facts.” Midnyte said as she lowered her shoulders. With a magical hum, she pulled the parts of her barding into place and fastened them.

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Only this time though.” Calypto replied as he sighed. He holstered his revolver as he sighed. Even as the itch in the back of his mind flared, he gritted his teeth and let it go.

“Thanks. You didn’t seem like raiders, so there wasn’t a point in us fighting. We need to save our strength, and I would imagine so do you.” Midnyte said as she finished clasping her hood around her neck.

“…I guess I’ll save my bullets.” Calypto sighed as he looked at the mass of bodies in the haphazard lobby. “So what are you doing in here anyway?”

“We were looking for blueprints.” Midnyte answered smiling, much to Marina’s confusion. Even with Marina making babbling noises, Midnyte continued. “We think there may be a secret entrance to the Ministry of Arcane Sciences building. We found a cabinet, but we can’t open it without damaging what is inside.”

“I could help with that!” Scapegrace said raising a hoof in the air with a cheerful enthusiasm. She even began sparkling just a little. The joy of being able to work collaboratively got Scapegrace giddy. Calypto glanced with stern expectation. “Eh-ahem, Provided we get access to all the information as well…” Scapegrace said, coughing as she tried to salvage her attitude into something more serious.

“If it means you trust us.” Midnyte said with warmth that was quite unexpected out of a raider.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Calypto barked skeptically. It didn’t look like an act, and that was the most terrifying thing for Calypto. Raiders didn’t act this way. He had to be on his guard.

Midnyte gave Calypto a concerned smile. It was a destructive thing. Between his empathy and his vigilance, the confusion came up rosey on his face as he wrinkled his snout. It was rather quick, the way the brim of his hat came down over his face. Quicker than usual.

Midnyte was somewhat eager in leading Scapegrace towards the cabinet. There was a smug glimmer washing over Scapegrace as she spun the ring of picks and tensions as she zoned in on the cabinet. Afterall, nobody else could help with this. She was needed. She was necessary. Sitting down to work, she spoke out. “What do you know about Ponyville?”

“It was a pre-war town. Fairly suburban. Can’t say I know a lot about it.” Midnyte said as she dropped down to her hooves.

“They say it is an earth pony town with terrible luck.” Scapegrace said. ‘Like me’ she thought for a moment, but it wasn’t hard for her to banish the thought.

“From what I can tell, that seems to be the case. It’s a slaughter house out there.” Midnyte replied, holding a wink in sympathy.

“Even back then, all sorts of terrible things befell this town.” Scapegrace said as she dug around with her pick and tension. “This place was witness to large disasters way before settlers dug for foundation. It figures, after all, they are right near Everfree.” As she fiddled with the tumblers, she would strain her face into strange expressions that told a story of just how the process was going. “Over and over again, monsters, and ancient evils would come to this place.”

Midnyte paused out of politeness as Scapegrace began to build up a steady glow. Every pony paused. It became quiet enough to hear the exact moment when all of the springs fell loose, falling back into position and the tiny spark faded from Scapegrace with a short, “damn it.” Scapegrace took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow.

Midnyte gave a chuckling sigh. “You would think that ponies would stop trying to live there.”

“You would think that…” Scapegrace said repositioning herself to get a bit more control with her hooves.

“Oh, but they didn’t?” Midnyte leaned in. It was such a darling thing. It was always nice when ponies took the bait so readily. Scapegrace even stopped picking just to turn to Midnyte. After all, she had somepony to tell history to.

“These are earth ponies we are talking about!” She said with a grin. Seeing Midnyte nod with interest and agreement was fun, but knowing the particular problem pony she was thinking about added a layer of humor. “Even as terrible things came to visit, they say that heroes would always show up to deal with them…” Scapegrace said, pulling away from her lock picking. Storytelling was an engaging process, and you needed hooves. The crystal pony couldn’t even keep her tail from wagging. “Normal ponies would rise to the occasion to fend off the darkness.” Scapegrace said as her magenta coat took on a vibrant glow. “Get this, they say the six ponies that became the ministry mares in the war effort became friends here in this town on just such an occasion.”

“That is a little bit surreal.” Midnyte said turning her head to the side, letting her mane filter down.

Despite having been exchanging judging glances with Marina, the jovial commotion of Scapegrace’s conversation had a magnetism he couldn’t ignore. Stepping in, Calypto tipped his hat back. “Well, it is a locus for spirits. They like to gather here. Even if they don’t have enough power for physical form.”

Midnyte was pleasantly surprised to see Calypto join in. “It might be something like what is going on now. We’ve all felt drawn to this place. It was only recently, but we all knew something big would happen here. More than just this tournament.”

“When I was young, I read folktales about the theory of these things called ‘Leylines’. I think Ponyville might be such a place.”

“Leylines? I have studied the astral magics, but I can’t say I am familiar.” Midnyte said, glancing between the two of them.

“I don’t think it would come up in learning unicorn magic.” Scapegrace added. “Unicorn magic draws from the stars and soul, but this might be something more like earth pony magic.”

Calypto huffed at the mention of earth pony magic. “Aren’t you supposed to be picking a lock?”

Scapegrace rolled her eyes at the comment, but got resituated on cracking the cabinet. “Anyway, Leylines...They say that they are places where energies converge. They are sort of like crossroads of fate. Various forces are drawn to these points, and they tend to become notable places.” She said as if it really wasn’t even distracting for her.

“Leylines are fairly remarkable phenomenon. It may be hasty to say anything.” Calypto added.

“What if it was such a place?” Scapegrace added. “Calypto, you even said that there are still ponies in this town, even though so much is still happening. We’ve seen all these crazy things running around. You even mentioned that spirits have been gathering here. Is it that hard to believe? It is an unfortunate town, but it is also where heroes are born.”

“Heroes, huh? Tough Cookie would love that.” Marina added as she sauntered around, keeping a wide berth of Calypto.

“Who are the heroes? Could that be us?” Midnyte asked.

“Who knows...” Calypto muttered as he walked away. This was too surreal. Things were starting to look like a slumber party in the middle of a warzone.

“I do!” Scapegrace blurted out gathering everypony’s attention. “Bingo!” She added, turning the lock on the cabinet. The cabinet slide open and Scapegrace spun the picks around before stashing them away. “I’m the best!” Scapegrace said practically hopping, until she realized everypony was looking at her.

Scapegrace passed some of the files to Midnyte as the two of them began perusing the documents. Calypto’s senses caught wind of some strange change in the air, and it painted a disgruntled look his face.

“The spirit ecology… something changed…” Calypto gripped his head and nearly fell. “Something big. What the hell was that?”

The fragments of the radio in the room over cackled in static.

bzzzzt kkkkkkrrrrrr shhhhhhzzztt-P.P Tower #18 to… underhead. There is… kind of anomaly…bzztt… high pressure center two clicks… and …. Clicks north of … the cold barrier has been compromised. I rep...bzzt… stratosphere has been compromised. Bzzzt Can’t maintain stratus layer.

Midnyte looked at Scapegrace in panic. “Killjoy…” Midnyte’s eyes widened. A bead of sweat rolled down her face. In an instant, she bolted out of the room.

“What’s up with her?” Scapegrace asked.

“Something is up. I might check it out.” Calypto answered.

“I’m still looking through files!” Scapegrace said as she tapped the edge of a stack of papers on the ground.

“Just be on guard.”

He strutted back towards the lobby, but a strange occurrence stopped him in his tracks. “Is this coincidence? No, that can’t be coincidence.” Calypto said as he looked at the pattern set out before him. It could only be seen from this one angle, but it was clean and crisp. The blood splatters, the pieces of radio, the scars in the flooring, the mess and havoc all around the room… All of it had come together, writing out a message. Marina galloped straight past him without taking notice. Of course she wouldn’t recognize the message. It was written in Zebra.

If it were just a word or two, it might have been coincidence, but this was much more. These were entire sentences, matching syntax and semantics. This was an elaborate message. The universe, the spirits, something wanted his attention. “Then it really might be a leyline.” Calypto muttered to himself.

Taking one good look at the message placed before him, Calypto smiled. It was clearly for him. How could he refuse?

As he left the room, one of the bodies on the ground began to twitch.

-------------------------------------------xxx XXX xxx--------------------------------------------------------

“You can bring about a better world, and it starts with us.”

Everything came into focus at that sound. An island of consciousness bubbling up from a deep nothing. I was in the middle of a lake. The rain poured down from the skies, but there wasn't a single cloud.

An unfamiliar mare stood before me. She smiled at me in the rain, but it was a smile of a peculiar kind... the kind I hated. It was a bastard's grin. I didn't like or trust a pony as arrogant as I was.

“You some kind of world saving hippie?” I said. I shot a sardonic grin as the cold rain soaked into my clothes.

The unicorn snorted. “A rude comment, but short of the mark.” She said as she walked along the surface of the water. Her image reflected upon the water as a fanged serpent wrapped in heavy chains. The rain refused to disrupt the image... like the rain itself was afraid. “I'm not interested in treating the sickness of a wretched world.”

Who the hell was this pony? She was white as death. She was wrapped in tattered black robes, and an hourglass hung over her shoulder like damn novelty piece. What stood out to me the most, was the emblem she had on her brooch. A snake devouring its own tail. Around her body were thick black chains that bound her to the ground.

“Then what do you want?” I said. I began to shiver, but it fortified my skeptical glare. There was a cold wind, that scraped inside my soul. I could feel it take part of me with it. Or maybe it was just the terrible feeling I got from this pony.

“New Genesis.” Her eyes dug in like knives. From a lantern affixed to her tail came a sinister green light. “Paving over the old world, we make way for a new one. This is a pathetic, dying world. Consider it an act of mercy.”

Genesis? It felt like such a damn twist of words.“What if we don't want your mercy?” As I spoke, a chasm split across the lake.

From her cloak, she levitated out a wrapped bundle. Of all the the faces in the world, hers was permanently locked in smug composure. It was the kind designed to piss me off. Her face was stuck like that, and it made me want to rearrange it. Bones scattered from the unfurling bundle, tumbling through the air and landing in the water.“In a single night, nine tenths of the world's population was consumed in Necromantic Holocaust. It was decimation by balefire.” Rippling out from the sunken bones, pillars of green flame burst from the lake, igniting the sky and land. “Now, the earth itself is saturated in poison. Even as the world sputters in the throes of death, not a single lesson was learned.” From another bone, pillars of stone emerged from the water. Ponies were crucified against the pillars, and more hung down by shackles. “The remnants lie, and cheat, and steal, and kill! You enslave your own kind for profit. The civilization crumbles apart, and ponykind festers. You choose to turn a blind eye to all of the signs?!”

Well look at that! She brought props... Her confidence was grating.

“Some of us like to think that it builds character.” I said with a charming acidity.

“That's a creative way to lie to yourself.” The mare said, tilting her head to the side. “I suppose even the sick can think they are healthy.”

“Perspective is everything.” Oh, I said that one with fury. The chill of the rain steamed away as my blood boiled in its veins. “Let me tell ya! Good? Bad? It's all in your head.” When I spoke it was as if the rain stopped. Stopped? No… It transformed. The drops of rain had turned viscous and sanguine. “Anypony eager to light it all up with an itchy hoof on a big red button just wouldn't understand... It strikes me as that traditional prewar Equestria mentality. Think about it as a 'generation gap'.” It rained, it poured, and I thundered.

“You're a phenomenon, but the rest of your kind would not be so quick to forgive their ancestors for leaving them a world of beggars, scavengers, and savages.” She said casting a hoof out over the array of grizzly totems.

I couldn't help but laugh at accusation. Once upon a time, I had been cut from the same cloth, but a lot has changed since those days. I wasn't going to go back. Also, she forgot cowards. We have stable ponies out here too.

My tail split the air with a whip crack. “I apologize if you can't hear the ire in my voice. I'd boil those prewar bastards alive if I could, but you better believe that I'd invite the whole damn wasteland to watch. They can keep their prewar world!” I shrugged shaking head. Too many rules. I wouldn't survive in that kind of place.” I said.

“There is something endearing about how fond you are of your delusion. It's stockhoof syndrome at it's finest.”

“The one trying to destroy the world is calling me 'Crazy'! What a day...” I said as I closed in on the chasm that divided us. “A sub-par demon would have run off by now, but you're still here. What the hell are you selling?”

“It's an invitation of sorts.” As she spoke, the moon glowed red in the sky. Crawled ever closer towards us as it devoured the sky. “Tonight will mark the beginning of the end of the world.--”

“End of the world? Sorry, we already had one....” She was trying my patience.

“What you had was a pale imitation... the end that comes will be something more absolute.”

“You already know what I am going to say, but you keep on talking....” I said. So many big pretty words, but not one was helping her take a damn hint!

“Well yes. Even among the first sacrificed, you are the peculiar one.” She took a moment to let the words cook. “The one with guilty blood. It is an honor to speak with you.”

I growled at the mention. I had lost all my words, rendering me the savage animal. From beneath the placid lake, a city emerged with us at its peak. Water rushed down the streets over the numerous bodies. The rising civilization carried us up towards the low hanging moon. Despite the waters, the buildings were coated in glowing embers. A stoking wind breathed those gasping embers into roaring fires.

What the hell did she think she knew about my story? “You must have somepony else. I’m just a humble trailblazer for the Glory Road Company.”

“You’re not fooling anypony.” She tilted her head to the side. “For a pony so twisted, I can admire your determination. Your record precedes you in death, Tumbleweed. There is nothing you wouldn't do to accomplish you goals. Cheating, stealing, lying, killing, torture. Despite your conscience, you have done them all in chasing after an ideal. That is the kind of unwavering obsession necessary to bring about Utopia.” She said.

“What if I don't like your damn Utopia?” I said.

“From where your spirit rests, you are free to spectate.”

I grit my teeth, but a smile crawled across my face. It wasn't often that I didn't have to hold back. “You come to my wasteland, talking shit about 'destroying the world', and you think I am going just let you do it?”

“The way your passion gives you the will to speak so brazenly in defense of the wastes is remarkable, but why is it so hard for you to put it to better use?” She held her hooves to her sides as the blood rained down from above. Red rolling rivers washed over the streets of the city. “What was that phrase? 'It's all in your head?'”

She really was trying to piss me off. “logical fallacies, logical fallacies.” A fool might think an argument was always transferable, but when you make a damn decision, it doesn't matter what they say, it's a damn decision. Still, it has been a while since I had a real challenge. I guess I had to respect her. “Ha! What kind of loser tries to play a scoundrel's trick on a scoundrel? I stand against you by choice. Bring whatever armies you want, the wasteland doesn't run from a fight!” I was picking fights I wasn't going to win, but I couldn't give a damn.

For the first time, I could feel the contempt in her smiling glare. “Even if he says that he has 'free-will', a puppet will not be convincing when you see the strings.” She said.

“Puppet?!” I yelled. “Apparently you don't like having teeth!” I didn't care if this was the afterlife or a dream, when there is an ass in need of kicking, a wastelander rises to the task!

… but as I lunged at this hell bitch, an invisible force halted me several feet short of redistributing her face. I could see the reflections of the silky threads that bound me through the rising smoke.

“Pharoah has interesting taste in dogs.”

I could feel a terrible taste in my mouth. The kind of disgusting that never washed away. A putrid ghost that would forever haunt me... “You are bringing that bastard into this? That's the second most pretentious thing I've heard today.” I said.

“You earth ponies always were inflexible bulls--”

“WHY YOU SELF IMPORTANT GEM FUCKING SAP DRIPPING DICK FACED PUTTY HOOVED SHIT SPOUTING SPAWN OF AN EVERGREEN TREE FUCKER--” As much as I roared, she kept on going. What kind of unicorn bullshit was this? Fight me damn it!

“A contemptible lot... Too stubborn for your own good. Even when given the truth, they force their eyelids shut, insisting to sleep out of tradition.” She said as she leaned in.

“What is there to see? Listen JimmyHat! You want truth? This is the only truth I know. You seem to live in some magical fairytale land if you think there is anything worth a damn in the truth you are trying to spout. Any good lying, cheating, gentlecolt knows that the eyes ain't worth damn for figuring out what 'is' and what 'isn't'. Which is to say, you think you know 'truth', but that truth you think you know, you can't know, because I know that you can't know that you don't know because eyes will only show you smoke and mirrors. You want talk about truth, but you don't know that it is a goddamn paradox. Where I come from, a truth is just a pretty lie.”

The mare grit her teeth and she squinted at me with a disdain. “You're the pink one aren't you? You just had to be the pink one...”

“I bet you're real cozy, coming in with all this bringer of the end, angel of death bullshit! With that Apocalypse Genesis plan you have going on, it probably makes you get that warm tingly feeling, just thinking about it. Alright, Doom 'n' Gloom! Here's a real question! What makes you so damn sure that when it all ends that it isn't flat game over? What kind of operatic asswash gave you the idea that this world is obligated to pony over a spiffy new world?!” I was roaring as I struggled against the bindings.

“This is the point where we differ.” She said as the rain was eclipsed in the red moon's shadow. “Since before there was existence, there has been a fickle creature. Compelled by defiance against that nothingness, it brought the world into existence.”She said as she raised a hoof, pointing towards the sky. “The creator is a bastard of contrarian whimsy. Can you imagine that? The one that moves it all. A being powerful beyond any conception, but as flippant as a child.” As she spoke, the blood that pooled across the town began to rise. “Controlling god is a nearly impossible task... but there is a single caveat.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“The absolute. Creation can not abide by absolute order.” She said. “What order is more absolute than death? Everything shall become one.”

“That's it? Kill everything? That's your grand plan?” I said with a scoff.

“In so many words...”

“You're a psychopath... You make me look squeaky clean.”

“We are visionaries, you and I. Both ambitious and obsessed. You should take more pride in it.” She said.

“Visionary my ass. You're a face in need of a hoof.”

“I'm one who is willing to take sacrifices. That is what is necessary to command god...”

“Yeah, you and what goddamned army?”

The devilmare smiled. “This goddamn army.”

Thousands of glowing eyes filled the skies and hills. I could only gawk in awe.

“Tonight, the gates of hell open.” She said.

Something ancient in me stirred. Summoned in rage...

“Bring your armies. We're the wasteland. Our demons will beat your demons.”

“That is arrogant statement, even for blood-soaked lord like you. If that makes you happy, fight all you like. It won't change anything.” She said.

“You trying to tell me what I can and can't do? Now I have to kick your ass.”

“Rebel all you want, but fate is not yours to decide. Nopony could stop it. Not that pink earth pony bitch. Not the fallen princess. What has been written is inevitable. All that is left is for the actors to take to the stage and perform their roles.” As she spoke, the chain binding her to the ground shattered apart. She walked her first steps with a confident swagger. “Sit back and enjoy the show, your majesty.”

Everything around me crumbled into pieces, and I fell into the abyss.

As I fell, I became lost in a thought.

No matter how fast I ran, there were some things I couldn't outrun...

*** *** ***

Author's Notes:

And so it begins...

Get ready, because everything is going into high gear.