Innocent? You still think you’re innocent? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Don’t you realize how much blood you spilled? Innocent blood? You may try to justify your reasons by saying that they’re all bad. That they all hurt or even killed. Let me tell you something. You’re wrong! Just because they just happened to be a part of that group doesn’t mean they’re all bad. Most may be bad but some...some are just forced to be that way.

Remember that raider you killed? The one that you mercilessly took his life? Surprise, he isn’t even one! He had a family and he was just trying to give them a good life. He never killed or hurt anyone. He didn’t even steal! He just joins a group to see what he can get. He doesn’t fight, no. If he encounters anyone, he warns or gives them a warning shot. Nothing else. Now that he’s gone, his family is in big trouble. They’re starving, waiting for him to bring food to them. They’re worried for him. It’s been days since he left them. Tsk tsk tsk, now their death...would come soon...hehehe. Good job, hero...

“Can you hear me? Come on, wake up!” Someone urged me

I opened my eyes, still shaken by what I had experienced while I was out. I blinked a few times, trying to see. Nope, all I could see is still darkness.

“He’s awake...Amazing,” Another said, sounding surprised.

“What...happened…?” I managed to ask, my voice barely audible. “And...why can’t...I see?”

“You can’t see? Hmm...I suppose that the effects of...whatever you did...is still in effect,” The voice, which I think would be the doctor or something similar, replied.

“Is there any possible way to speed up his recovery?” Another asked. This time, I identified who owned the voice. It was Fortis.

“Maybe, but I’m not sure if it will affect him negatively or positively,” The doc responded. “I never tried the spell on an Earth pony.”

“Remember, he’s not exactly an Earth pony,” Fortis told him.

“Yes, I remember,” I heard a sigh. “Then we shall try the spell.”

“W-What spe-” I was interrupted by a tingling feeling all over my body. It started off as a ticklish sort-of buzz to a very annoying electric shock.

After the feeling died down, the darkness that covered my eyes slowly faded away and it was replaced by a dark-colored ceiling. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was really seeing properly and I looked at my sides. 2 stallions stood at each side, the doctor and Fortis.

“Can you see now?” The doctor asked me.

“Y...yes,” I told him.

“Great, great,” He wrote something on his clipboard. “Recovery spell is a success, truly amazing...How are you feeling?”

“Just fine, I think,” I tried sitting up but Fortis gently held me down. He gave me a look of disapproval.

“Don’t move just yet,” The doctor ordered me. “You still need to rest, your body is still under a lot of stress.”

I just nodded and stared at the ceiling. I waited for the doctor or Fortis to say something but all I heard was the sound of the pen writing.

“What happened to me?” I decided to ask.

“Ah, you fainted,” The doctor responded.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Why did I faint then?”

The doctor stopped writing and looked at me. I could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t sure of what to say. What really happened?

“I’m not sure but I think it might be related to…” He stopped himself, carefully thinking his words. “It’s something you happened to eat, that’s all.”

“Tell him the truth, doc, I think he can handle it,” Fortis told him. “He must know…”

“If you say so,” The doc looked at me and began speaking. “When I heard about what happened to you, I was baffled. A regular Earth pony could not do what you just did.”

“What are you talking about?” I gave him a confused look.

“Well, you see...how do I say this…” He flipped some papers. “ You’re not just any regular Earth pony. I can’t explain how but all I know is that...I need more research on this, Fortis. I can’t say until I’m really sure.”

“I understand. This is a really confusing subject because it defies...many things,,” Fortis responded.

“Can I get up now?” I cut in. “You know, if you’re not going to tell me what’s wrong with me, can you let me go? I still have somewhere to go.”

“No! I mean, no. Not yet, you may leave this room but you cannot leave the town,” The doctor quickly told me. “We are still trying to understand what happened to you. Maybe, we can find a way to help you. If you leave now, there’s a chance that you will kill many innocent lives outside the city’s gates.”

“I can’t stay here,” I tried getting up but was stopped once more by Fortis. “I need to find them! I need to find my friends!”

“Calm down!” Fortis managed to stop me from moving. “You will find them but not now. We can’t let you go without knowing what really happened. Friend, you need to trust us.”

I stopped struggling and nodded my head in defeat. If they would hold me back from my goal for a good reason, then so be it. I just hoped that my friends will be alright.

“Rest for now, friend,” Fortis slowly let me go. “Once you’re well-rested, I can show you around the place.”

“Fortis, that’s a weird name,” I told him as we walked along hallways of the clinic.

“Actually, my name is Quicksilver. The folks here calls me Fortis,” He responded, smiling.

“And Malus?” I asked him. He frowned.

“Malus, I never knew his real name. He used to be one of the guards of this place,” He replied. “Why he left Lux, nobody knows.”

“And you joined him, am I right?” I waited for an answer when he stopped walking.

“Yes, I did,” He looked around before continuing. “I was young and stupid back then. I hated how hard life was here and how my job was a guard. I was scared that I might die when someone tries to attack the place.”

“So what made you join him?” I questioned.

“He went to me one day to tell me something. He said he knows how I was feeling and that I could join him to get out of this town. He told me that I could have a better life if I agreed to accompany him,” He explained. “And since I was not satisfied with my life here, I followed him. Turns out he was secretly a member of the infamous raider group.”

“Did you leave him immediately?” I was curious about his past. He doesn’t seem to be the type to continue staying with a killer, right?

“Actually, no. I...sticked with him for at least 2 years. I was having the time of my life during those 2 years. I was free and I could do anything. No rules to stop you, no society to judge, nothing,” He rubbed his neck and sighed. “I also liked the feeling of being a wastelander bad-ass. Shoot this, shoot that, makes you feel cool. Of course, you know the feeling. You look like one.”

“I…” I shook my head. “Please continue, your story is pretty interesting. What happened next?”

“Anyways, there comes a time when you start thinking: Am I doing the right thing?” He looked at me. “So I reflected on what I did. I realized that whenever I threatened someone, I would feel so guilty at the end. This wasn’t the life I asked. I didn’t want to continue killing others just to get their things. So I ran away. I didn’t know he would be after me when I did.”

“Well, he’s dead now, I think,” I reminded him as we continued walking. “Now you can rest easy.”

“I wish I could agree with you but it’s not going to be easy,” He told me. “I betrayed the folks here. I’m not sure if they’ll still accept me.”

“Hey, how can you find out if you won’t risk it? I believe that you’re a good stallion, even if we met for a short time,” I said the last part in a barely audible voice. “So, shall we see what happens?”

You’re right, friend,” He smiled.

“Please, call me Eclipse,” I told him.

Before we left the place, we heard someone shouting at us. We turned around to see a unicorn mare in a labcoat running towards us, carrying something. I looked at it and noticed it looked familiar.

“Hey, wait!” She shouted as she rushed towards us. “You forgot this!”

“What is it, Miss?” Fortis asked her. She finally reached us,gasping for air.

“This...Pip...Buck...Ack,” She collapsed. Geez, how long was she running? Better yet, how far was she running?

“Miss, are you alright?” Fortis helped her up. “It looked like you ran a marathon.”

“Yes, I...am fine,” She replied, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “It’s just, this place is just like a maze with all these hallways. Someone should really put signs around this place.”

“So, what did we forget?” I asked her, still looking at the thing she is is levitating. It really looks familiar but I just can’t find out what exactly it is. My mind is still fuzzy so maybe I just need more time to remember.

“Oh right! You’re PipBuck, sir!” She handed it to me. “We removed it from you and studied it. I must say this is a very interesting variation, maybe the only one of its kind! We would have tried to study the rest of the equipment you have but...that would violate a few rules of ours, eheh.”

“Oh, uhm, thanks,” Of course, it’s that object. I knew there was a wrong feeling in one of my legs when I woke up. I placed it on my right foreleg, locking it in place.

“And, uhm, I think we broke it…” She said sheepishly,smiling and blushing a bit. “It shut off when we tried to access it. Never turned on again, no matter how hard we tried. Sorry.”

“Oh, well that sucks,” I pressed the power button. “Maybe we can find another-Ouch!”

I felt a sharp pain on where the tech is placed. Both ponies looked at me worriedly.

“You’re...You’re leg is bleeding!” The mare looked shocked as she pointed at my right leg.

“Aww, come on!” I yelled in annoyance. “I’m been bleeding too much now.”

As the mare quickly fished out a towel from her coat pockets, I continued to stare at my bleeding leg. The fur began to turn into a shade of red that I weirdly find beautiful. When the mare tried to wipe the blood off, I nearly jerked my leg away. She gave me a concerned look.

“A-Are you okay? Does it hurt?” She asked me, trying her best to wipe off the blood.

“Whoa, calm down now, Miss. I’m fine,” I calmly told her. “It’s nothing compared to what I experience in the Wasteland.”

“I’m sorry for overreacting but I’m just really worried,” She stopped wiping once most of the blood is gone.

“I think he’ll live, Miss,” Fortis assured her. “He looks pretty tough to me.”

She shakily nodded and took a step back, keeping the bloody towel. Suddenly, we heard a click coming from the PipBuck. I looked at it and noticed it was starting up, numbers scrolling down the screen. The mare looked at it in surprise, mouth agape. Fortis, on the other hand, looked like he was as confused as I was.

“It’s...It’s working,” She mumbled, eyes wide. “The only thing that I can think now is that this PipBuck is only accessible by you…somehow.”

“Wow, guess I’m a special snowflake now,” I tapped on the screen, making sure it’s working. The screen flickered for a moment before returning back to normal.

The mare composed herself and nodded at Fortis. He nodded back and told her that everything will be fine now. She nodded again and walked away but not before looking at me worriedly one last time.

“What was that all about?” I asked him. “I mean her overcaring nature.”

“She’s one of the doctors that had seen a lot of deaths. She’s really sensitive when it comes to life or death,” He explained. “She lost her family once, it really affected her. So now she devotes her life to trying to save lives. By the way, her name is Selena.”

“You know her?” I was curious on how he knows her. Did they meet before? Wait, of course they did. I should stop asking obvious and stupid questions.

“Well, yes. She’s my sister,” He replied. “I would have called her by her first name when she went here but she prefers to be called ‘Miss’ in this place.”

“Whoa, that’s interesting and weird,” I mumbled. “So, she’s your sister. And a good one too I bet.”

“Eeyep. She’s one of the ponies that voted for me to enter the town. Good thing too, if it weren’t for her decision, I would still be outside Lux,” He told me. “Now, let’s start exploring, shall we? You still have a lot of places to see.”

“Here we are, the bakery of Lux,” Fortis pointed at the dull-colored building. “If you’re looking for something to eat, something like bread, you may want to visit this place.”

“Wow, baking? Now that’s something I haven’t seen in a long time,” I looked at the building in awe.

“You might be hungry. Come, let’s go,” He ushered me inside the place.

When we passed through the doors of the place, I can say I’m impressed. Though it doesn’t look much and not that clean, it was still tidy in a way. Chairs and tables placed neatly, the decorations around makes the place more lively, and then there’s the...woah.

“Oh, customers!” A mare behind the counter spoke up. “Finally, something to do.”

“Yep, customers,” Fortis took a sit on a nearby spot. The mare furrowed her eyebrows and studied him for a bit.

“Wait, have we met before?” She asked him. “‘Cause you look very familiar…”

I was surprised when Fortis hugged her tightly. She was as well, eyes wide in confusion.

“Velvet, it's been so long,” He said, tears forming in his eyes. “My Goddess, it’s been so long..”

“Wait, Fortis?” She quickly broke off the hug, holding him by the shoulders. “How? Oh my gosh, you’re back but how?”

“They finally let me in after some of the leaders voted me in,” He replied, smiling. “Thank the Goddess above that my sister was the one to break the tie.”

“At least you’re back here with me,” She then looked at me. “And who is this handsome fellow you brought along?”

“Ah, Velvet, meet Eclipse. He’s the one that helped the group I was in to get to Lux,” He introduced me to her. “And Eclipse, this is Red Velvet, manager and baker of this place.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eclipse. You can call me Red or Velvet, doesn’t really matter,” She said with a smile. “I heard that the group Fortis brought in arrived safe and sound. I’m impressed that you managed to help them out on your own.”

“Oh, uhm, thanks!” I blushed a bit. “It’s nothing, really…”

“Eclipse…? There was barely anything out there to hurt us so I wouldn’t say you did your job. Hah! Good job though, on trying to defend us from raiders,” Fortis smirked. Geez, what happened to the humble stallion that talked to me back at Ghost town?

“Fine, I guess there was little to no danger on the way…” I rolled my eyes.

“Heheh, that must be a fun trip then,” She chuckled. “Anyways, both of you must be hungry, I mean, really hungry. So, what can I get ya?”

“What’s there to offer?” I asked her.

“We got…” She paused and look at a small paper that was tucked in her apron. Wait, did I mention she had an apron?

“We got muffins,” She replied, smiling. I blinked and waited.

“Uhm, muffins?” I expected a bit more than that.

“Yes, muffins. Would you like some?” She asked me, waiting for an answer.

“Uhm...Sure, I guess,” I replied. Hey, as long as there’s food. “How much is it?”

“Oh, Don’t worry about the payment. For any newcomers to this town, it’s on the house. I breathed a sigh of relief, I don’t even remember how much caps I have left. Hell, I could have none left on me anyways.

“Phew, thanks for telling me that,” I told her.

“No problem,” She looked at Fortis. “Come on, Fortis, you can come help me with this order. We still have a lot to talk anyways. I’ve waited for you for 2 years so let’s not waste any more time.”

He just laughed and followed her to the kitchen. I just shrugged and took a sit. I wonder what’s up with them? And better yet, the muffins better be quick ‘cause I’m starving. So in the meantime, I continued to mess around with my beloved PipBuck. I wondered what was in this thing that made me bleed.

“Hello Sir, here’s your order,” I was startled when a tough-looking unicorn spoke to me. He slowly placed it on my table. I tried thanking him but he left as quickly as he appeared. Creepy. Anyways, I took a bite out of my muffins and immediately spat them out. I looked at the muffins, disgusted by them, and questioned how they made them. They taste like dirt and I don’t even like dirt.

“How is the muffins Sir?” The unicorn was back, appearing out of nowhere. I nearly fell of my chair in surprise and it took me all my willpower to say the muffins were great. I dare not make this stallion mad. He continued to stay in place, looking at me, waiting for me to take another bite from the muffins. I gulped and grab another and ate it. And another and another and another until I finished them all. By now, I just wanted to run away and puke. He nodded and just like that, disappeared into thin air. Damn unicorns, always using their teleportation magic.

I waited for Fortis to come back, I was getting bored. Though the muffins may be bad, I would rather have something in my stomach than nothing at all. Still, I was ready to throw it all up. And the bad feeling in my gut only grew worse as time passed by. I hoped he would come back soon, the constant visits of the tough unicorn was starting to scare me.

I was ready to snore the day away when they finally arrived, Red and Fortis. I gave them both a dirty look for making me stay in this place for so long. I would have left but then I would get lost. I hate my choices.

“Sorry if we took so long to come back,” Fortis tried to apologize. “We just needed time to talk.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve been gone for two years and now you’re back. Both of you want to catch up with each other, I understand,” I told him, my tone a little bit harsh. I can’t help myself, dirt-tasting muffins make you feel that way.

“So, did you like my muffins?” Red asked make me, a bit worried about my opinion. I just slammed my head into the table.

“Red, it’s fine, could use some improvement though,” I muttered. I gestured Fortis to come closer to me and I whispered to him, “I swear cardboards tastes better than this, no offense.”

This time, he’s the one to give me a dirty look.

“Well, I do need to improve a bit on my baking skills,” Red said. “Some of them can be a little bit...burnt.”

“Hey Eclipse, someone wants to meet you in this town,” Fortis informed me. “I didn’t know someone knows you. Or maybe he’s just curious.”

“Yeah, you should feel lucky too!” Red said excitedly. “Ooh, thanks to you, I get to meet him.”

“Wait, meet who?” I asked them, eyebrow raised.

“Why, one of the many leader of this town, other than my sister of course,” He replied with wink. “Come on now, friend, we don’t want to keep him waiting.

This leader I was meeting apparently lived in a very tall tower in the middle of the town. We were taking one of the rusty elevators to reach the floor he’s in currently. Right now, I’m enjoying the wind that whips through my mane and the fantastic view of the Wasteland. Even if it is barren, there’s a certain beauty in it to be seen once you’re in a higher ground.

“Enjoying the view, Mister Eclipse?” Red asked me. I’m completely disturbed by the change of formality. Mister? Only Sweetie calls me that and her calling me that made my heart ache. Why was she even calling me that in the first place.

“Red, I told you NOT to call me Mister,” I told her. “And yes, I’m enjoying the view. Thank you for asking.”

“Well, I’m sorry for calling you that,” She grinned. “But you’re one of the lucky few to meet him! We’re just here to escort you, his orders. I mean, of course I had to call you ‘Mister’. Right now, to me, you are a very important pony that deserves a formal greeting.”

“Nngg...Just please don’t call me that,” I insisted.

“Eclipse, what’s wrong?” Fortis asked me, worried about my attitude to her.

“Nothing, nothing,” I quickly replied before returning to look at the barren land. I also looked at the walled city, I thought it would be big but it was really small. Quite disappointing really.

Anyways, the ride up was very slow. Most of the time was filled with conversations that were made by Red and Fortis. I could guess they were in a relationship and my guess was true when they...kissed. Bleh. I would never be able to understand that kind of feeling. I wondered how they’re still in love after 2 years. Maybe it’s fate? Destiny? True love? SOME WEIRD CHEMICAL REACTION IN THEIR BODIES?!

“Guys, can you please keep your...nngg...personal conversations in a much lower volume,” I yelled, feeling a little bit awkward. Red just said okay and they continued talking. I sighed and leaned on the railings, letting my thoughts wander. I wanted to see my friends again, I really do. Damn, I’ll do anything to get back to them, to get back to Raindrops...that poor little filly.

The elevator stopped with a jerk, nearly making me fall. I shakily took a step back from the edge and turned towards the door on the wall. I tapped the metallic floor of the elevator while waiting, making some sort of rhythm that sounded similar to what I have heard from a long time.

“Well, here we are,” Fortis tapped the metal door twice. “Hopefully, his assistant won’t mistake us as some outsiders. I mean, look at you Eclipse. PipBuck and an armored stable suit…”

“Yeah, are you a Stable Dweller?” Red asked me.

“No, but someone from a Stable gave me this…” I answered uneasily.

“Oh, by the way, he’s your hat,” He handed me a dusty fedora. “Your coat is back at the lab. I forgot to tell you that, sorry.”

“Eh, it’s fine,” I told him as I placed the hat on my head, tilting it a bit to imitate the way a certain pegasus wears his hat. “I’ll just get the coat next time.”

“Feeling fancy now are we, Mister Ec-”

“Please, just please don’t call me that!” I begged her.

Before anything else could happen, the door opened and behind the door was another mare. Mares everywhere, what’s up with that? I rarely saw any stallions so far. When I asked Fortis about that, he told me that most stallions will have to work as a part of the maintenance crew of the place. They’re usually underground. Others are on guard duty while some are free to choose their work. Mares, on the other hand, can choose what they want to do. Lucky mares, always having a better life than stallions. I better stop thinking about mares.

“Oh, you finally arrived,” She told Fortis. “Please, all of you come in and make yourselves comfortable.”

We entered the place and I can’t believe my eyes. The walls looked wonderful. The floors looked wonderful. Even the ceiling looked wonderful. It would be amazing to own this place!

“Wow! Look at this place. How do you feel, Eclipse?” Red asked me, giggling and walking around the place.

“Amazed, surprised...confused?” I really am. Who wants a Wasteland traveler in this lovely place? I looked for a mat to wipe my hooves. It’s best to show respect to whoever owns this place, he or she must be a clean freak.

“Velvet, maybe you could calm down a bit?” Fortis gently told her. “We do not want to anger him now, do we?”

“Fine, but you have to admit, this place is AWESOME!” She yelled out before going back to her calm and not-so-loud attitude. I was glad she stopped yelling, I feared that the mare would come back and throw us out of the place for being so damn noisy. Silly Red, you can’t act like that all the time.

I always get bored so easily. Sometimes, I would try to find entertainment in simple things, like an ant army walking across the wall. I didn’t even know ants still existed in this time so I stared at the group in awe. Suddenly, this stallion arrives. He wore dark sunglasses, an olive-green polo, and a white T-shirt. I didn’t know they still exist at this time. So I stared at him in awe.

“Look who we have here? Fortis, Velvet, and…” This unicorn stallion looked at me, I think. “Who’s this guy?”

“Uhm, sir, I think…” The mare looked at me and shook her head. “I don’t know sir.”

“You don’t know?” He smirked. “He, my dear assistant, is the mysterious stallion of the wasteland.”

“What…” I stared blankly at him.

“Well, you have the suit to prove it!” He grinned.

“I...you must have mistaken me with someone else. I just got this suit from a friend of mine,” I told him in a monotone voice. “And I’m not mysterious, just not well-known.”

“Eclipse, what are you talking about?” Fortis whispered to me.

“I don’t feel comfortable with how he just described me,” I whispered back to him. Mysterious stallion of the wasteland, pfft, what a joke.

“Really? Hmm, I need to get more reliable informers then…” He muttered. “Anyways, you’re the stallion that helped Fortis and a group of poor wastelanders into Lux, am I correct?”

“Uhm, I think so,” I replied. “All I did was just show them the way, nothing much.”

“Good enough for me,” He raised his sunglasses, his green eyes staring right at me. “So, follow me. I need to talk to you.”

Then to the two next to me, he smiled at them.

“And both of you, next time, make sure the door is lock.”

Both blushed and grinned sheepishly. I looked at them and then it struck me. I was ready to go with this white stallion and leave them both for a very very long time. Oh Fortis, I shouldn’t have judged you too quickly.

I noticed I had been doing a lot of walking of walking lately. I noticed I rarely get tired. I remembered what the doc told me. I continued to look forward as me, the stallion, and the mare walked towards a room. Both of them were talking about something, maybe about me. I can’t really tell since I’m more concentrated on not trying to look at-

“Hey, we’re here,” The unicorn opened a door before I bumped into it. “Don’t walk too fast, we’re not in a rush.”

“Yeah, you seem to be a bit occupied while we were walking,” The mare said. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing,” I replied. I don’t need them knowing what’s happening in my life....yet.

“Huh, you really are the mysterious one,” She tilted her head.

“No, I just don’t feel comfortable talking about what I experienced to strangers,” I told her.

“Strangers? Hey, at least call me an acquaintance,” She said.

“Acquaintance? We don’t even know each other”

“Fine, let’s introduce ourselves to each other,”

“Wait, why do you even want to talk to me?”

“Why not? Is there a problem with a mare talking to a stallion?” She gave me a challenging look.

“Yes, especially if they are strangers,” I responded.

“Oh really now? Fine then, my name is-”

“Nope, sorry.”

“Hey! Why so rude?” She whined.

“Why are you trying so hard to befriend me?” I asked her. “And why so casual? I thought you were the formal one...”

“Because I rarely make my friends…”She mumbled, pawing the floor. Oh please, she’s trying to make me feel guilty. Time to switch tactics then.

“Really? I find that hard to believe,” I scoffed. She looked at me, insulted.

“What? Why?”

I gulped.

“A mare that is as...err..” I nearly choked holding back my laughter. Was I really going to do this? Nah, she’s going to kick me out for this. So I never completed my sentence.

“You’re mean,” She stuck out a tongue at me. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

“Hey! I got the radio working again and…” He yelled before walking towards us. “What are both of you still doing outside the door? Nevermind, just come inside. Geez, do I have to tell everyone what to do around here?”

“Not really,” I replied in a sarcastic tone.

“I’m starting to like you even more,” He chuckled before gesturing us to enter. We went in and my eyes went wide with surprise. The place was cleaner that the lobby(I think it’s the lobby) and there were working technology. Terminals, some blinking stuffs, what I think was a recording studio, and the radio, which seemed to be badly put together.

“So, The Mysterious Stallion, what do you think about my place?” He sits on a awesome looking chair which was placed near a microphone.

“Mysterious Stallion?” I shook my head. “Sir, you don’t have to call me that. I don’t think I deserve that title.”

“Why not? I think you’ve earned it,” He insisted. “That’s what the residents of 35 said to me anyways.”

“Sir, I’m just a traveller of the Wastes, nothing special there.”

“Are you sure you’re just a traveller? Don’t you help others on the way? Weren’t you the one that scared those cannibals to death?”

“What? No, I would never!” I feigned shock. Hmm, I don’t feel like my usual self today, especially with how my attitude to others had changed. Muffins, it must be because of the muffins.

“I can tell if someone is lying or not..” He turned to his assistant. “Would you be a dear and stare straight into his eyes? He doesn’t want to tell me the truth.”

“Wait...you’re not trying to make me feel uncomfortable, are you? Just to get me to say what you want, right?” I asked him. “‘Cause...if you want, I can make this a bit more interesting.”

“Have you been eating Velvet’s muffins?”

“Eeyup!”

“Damn, I should ask her next time what she places on those muffins.”

“Whatever, now let’s get this eye-staring contest started!” I said eagerly.

“Hah! You won’t beat me, I’m the best when it comes to this kinds of games.” The mare said cockily.

“Oh, this will be damn interesting!” The stallion grabbed a bottle under his chair and popped the cap. “Let’s get this contest started!”

What a way to start this meeting, a staring contest. The mare seems to be pretty competitive though and a bit determined to beat me. I smirked and stared at her. She looked back at me intensely. The stallion was busy drinking, his green eyes still watching us. That’s when I had a strange feeling somewhere in my head.

I know you. You’re the one that tried to steal our food. You think you could get away that easily? Guess what, you can’t! Don’t you realize that you messed with the wrong group? A group that are known to track down anyone in anyplace at anytime? Just because you’re a unicorn doesn’t mean you’re much harder to track. You can teleport, make yourself invisible, or run away as many times as you want, we will always find you. Now, you have been a naughty girl for doing such naughty things...And you need to be punished…

“Stop! STOP!” She screamed, covering her face and shaking her head. “Stop whatever you’re doing, I can’t relive that memory!”

“What’s wrong?” The stallion rushed to her side, dropping his drink. “Amethyst, what’s wrong?”

“Make him stop doing whatever he's doing to my mind!” She continued

squirming.

I blinked and looked away. What the hell did I just look at? A memory? Of whom,

her? What’s happening to me, did I really do that?

“What is he doing?” The stallion asked her again.

“I...I…” She calmed down and lowered her hooves. “I don’t know…”

“I-I’m sorry!” I apologized. “I don’t know what just happened but I’m sorry!”

“What did you do?!” The stallion asked me, a bit angry. I flinched. Amethyst held him back though, which was fine by me.

“Is...Is he a unicorn?” She asked.

“No, he’s not,” He looked at me, studying me. “He’s just an Earth pony.”

“That’s...no, that’s impossible,” She rubbed her eyes and looked at me. “How.. did you do that?”

“Do what?” I asked her.

“That thing you just did. A memory spell,” She tapped her horn.

“Wait, he did a spell? And something that involved memories?” The stallion looked genuinely shocked. “Whoa, that’s a whole new level of weirdness. Imagine that! News Flash: Earth pony does memory spell on unicorn! Man, that would be sweet!”

“What…” I was confused, again. Me? Casting a spell? That doesn’t make sense.

“Can we...Can we act like his never happened?” She glared at the stallion. “This is all your fault, Larynx.”

“Anyways! Let’s start with the introduction, shall we?” He immediately went back to his chair and grabbed his fallen drink, though there was barely anything left in the bottle. “My name is Larynx. Of course, you must have heard of me. I’m the damn DJ of this land! Unless, of course, you listen to the mare in Tenpony tower.”

“So you’re the one that’s been talking at the radio. It’s such an honor meeting you,” I said, offering him a fist(hoof?)bump. “I enjoy the way you talk.”

“Why thank you for the compliment,” He grinned. “But it is me who should be honored to be meeting you! Imagine, meeting one of the wasteland’s heroes. Now that’s something unexpected, another hero in this land.”

“I’m no hero, just another traveller,” I looked at his assistant. “And how about you? you going to introduce yourself?”

“Well, I tried before you stopped me, Mr. Hero,” She rolled her eyes. “So yeah, you lost your chance.”

“Whoa, you just met one of the heroes of the wastelands and you have a grudge against him already?” Larynx whistled. “That’s a whole new low for you, what’s the matter? Did it involve that memory-?”

“No! I mean, no. You know what? Fine, I’ll introduce myself if he does it first,” She pointed a hoof at me. “Now do it.”

“Fine,” I groaned. “Just call me Eclipse. Just Eclipse, nothing else. Just another normal traveller, nothing special there. You’re turn.”

“Fine then, Eclipse, if that is really your real name…”She mumbled the last part. “My name is Amethyst, or Amy if you want. I am the assistant of Larynx, I help him when it come to fixing stuff or if he wants to find information about something.”

“So, Eclipse, is that all you have to say about yourself?” Larynx leaned a bit closer. “Come one, tell me something interesting. I am the new reporter of this damned land and if something interesting comes along, I’ll seize it. So don’t leave me hanging!”

“Nothing really, there’s not much to tell about my life,” I told him.

“Hey, you seem to have at least lived a Stable life, no pun intended, nobody had a stable life in this town, so tell us a bit about that part of your life,’ He insisted.

“I told you, I only got this from a friend. I’m no Stable Dweller. I don’t even know what’s like to live in a Stable,” I shook my head. “same with the PipBUck if you plan on asking.”

“I doubt that’s a Stable PipBuck,” Amethyst said, looking at said object. “As far as what the studies say, that’s a different variation. A combination of at least 2 different PipBuck types.”

“There’s different kinds of PipBucks?” I asked her.

“Yes, though the Stable variation is the most well-known PipBuck in the Wasteland,” She replied. “So far, there is no success in finding any other lost variations of PipBucks. We presumed all of it had been destroyed by the bombs as the only PipBuck type that had been officially been released was, of course , the Stable one.”

“That’s a lot of information to process…” I tried to get everything she said into my mind. What an information dump.

“Yeah, she does seem to be what I call an ‘egghead’. She reads too much and tends to snoop into others’ private lives. But hey, anything for the news,” The DJ winked at her. “If you want to know something, you can trust her to have that information.”

We suddenly heard a ding and Larynx just smiled, widely. He placed the bottle down and put his sunglasses into place. He got up and went into another room, which could be where he does his thing, and flicked a switch. He closed the door to the room and tapped on a mic that was attached to the wall. A sign on one of the walls flickered to life and the words on it could be clearly seen.

On Air

“Well, seems we’ll be left alone for a while,” Amethyst just stared at the sign. “So far, everything in this place seems to be working fine. So most of my time is spent searching for anything useful that he could use to talk about. Seems today will be different.”

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Well, today, my luck decided to go downhill and so I can’t seem to find any useful information worth talking about.”

“Don’t you have anything to do besides that?”

She scratched her head and stared blankly at the wall for sometime.

“Uhm, no. I don’t really do anything else besides those, I just stay at my room for most of my boring day,” She finally replied.

“That sucks. So do you have anything to do? Anything?” I asked her again. She shook her head.

“As I said, my luck decided to go downhill. This will be a boring day…” She groaned. “I wish I can think of something to do with my spare time.”

“I don’t seem to be getting out of here any time soon,” I told her. “You know, because I have no idea where those two are.”

“Who? Fortis and Velvet?”

“Yup, and I don’t think I want to even find them at this point. After what Larynx said earlier on, I don’t think I’ll even plan on meeting with them again.”

We both laughed, well, she did most of the laughing anyways. I just waited for her stop. When she noticed me looking at her weirdly, she cleared her throat and played with her mane.

“So now that we got to know each other, are we considered friends now?” She asked shyly.

“Hey, that’s not nice. This took me a long time to clean up the room,” She whined. “When I first got the room, it was such a mess. The paint was peeling off the wall, the floor was littered with rat bones, the ceiling was falling apart, and worst of all, there was no bed. I had to sleep at the floor for at least a month.”

“That one month sounds so rough, who’s idea was it to give you the room in the

first place?” I asked her.

“Larynx, but it wasn’t his fault. I used to sleep in another room until the floor

collapsed. This room was the last one available so he was forced to give it to me,” She replied.”

“Hmm, interesting story,” I eyed the bed, a mischievous idea crawling into my head. “Now I really want to feel how it is to sleep in a bed.”

“Never slept on a bed before?”

“Only once, I think.”

“Then knock yourself out, but please don’t break it. You seem pretty heavy…” She looked at my metal shoes and the back braces. “Especially with...those on you. Can’t you take it off?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe, maybe not,” I replied. “I would try removing it but…”

“But…?”

“I don’t think I want to remove it,” I finished my sentence.

“Well, what a really dumb excuse,” She shook her head. “Yeah, if you plan on sleeping on my bed, I won’t let you.”

“Aww, but can I just lie down on it? I need to let my back feel what it’s like to rest on one, it’s been so long since I’ve seen one, and I’m dying to try something else other than lying on the hard floor for once. Even if I tried those medical beds, they’re not as comfy as they look like.”

“Hmm...I’ll think about it. Go seat on one of the chairs while I decide,” She pointed at chairs and table on one of the corners of the room. “Now, go on, take a seat and we can talk.”

I stared at her in annoyance and followed her. That idea could wait, the bed will always be there anyways. I sat and she took a sit in front of me.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” She questioned me.

“I don’t know, what do you want to talk about?” I asked her back.

“Uhm, I don’t know…” She began thinking. “How about...your life?”

“Nope.”

“How you got your name?”

“Nope, not that too.”

“How you got here?”

“Why does it have to be all about me?”

“Fine, let’s talk about me…” She cleared her throat. “Now prepare yourself for a lengthy story.”

“Whoa, ok, I’ll talk,” I quickly spoke up. “My life, I don’t really know much about. I just woke up to this world, I guess. I’m not even sure how old I am. So yeah, I woke up, wandered around the place, and bam! Here I am. How I got my name...I just read it at a terminal. I’m not even sure if Eclipse is even my name.”

“Ooh, interesting. You say you just woke up to this world? What do you mean by that?” She asked me, leaning a bit closer.

“Well, like what I said, I just woke up. I woke up in a dark place that is built underground with no memory of who am I or how I got there.”

“So you’re saying you’ve been asleep in an underground facility and just woke up,” She slowly nodded. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I can’t believe myself either so...yeah, that’s my story so far. Unless I can get a bit more information about myself, then I could define my past,” Then I mentally facepalmed myself, I promised myself I would not use that story. Have I already forgotten? “No, I’m just kidding. That was a joke.”

She arched her eyebrow, tilting her head a bit.

“So, are you really going to tell me your story or not?”

“Okay, here it is,” I took a deep breath. Two stories, two pasts, two stallions. I only get to choose one path. One is used as a cover for me, the other will be my real identity.

My decision...can be disastrous.

“Stable 5, I’m from Stable 5. Decided to leave because, uhm, something broke, killing most of the inhabitants.” Ah shit, I contradicted myself. I forgot I told her I never went to a Stable. I just hoped she forgot about that.

“What broke? The water talisman?” She's buying it, I think.

“Yeah! That one. It broke, I’m forced to get out of the Stable, and now I’m here!”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause that’s not what I heard what happened to Stable 5.”

“Oh, uhm, what did you hear?”

“Wait, let me try to remember…” She rubbed her temples. “Ah, not much really. All I heard was it was abandoned.”

“Exactly, because of the water talisman…” There was something wrong with my story. Of course there was, I made it up. But then...I remembered reading something in the Overseer’s terminal when I was there.

Entry Log #76

Damnit, those sick bastards. They’ve doomed us all with their stupid experiments! I knew something was off when I first stepped in this place. Why have I been so blind? Why did I immediately agree to their terms without realizing the dire consequences that could happen?! Because of my naiveness, I have allowed them to manipulate me into doing this...monstrosity! And for the sake of science? Bullshit! This isn’t science, this is a sadistic project.

I should write down how it happened. How the population of this Stable

gradually descended into madness. It first started with a problem on the water talisman. I had someone to get it fixed and I thought he did. There was no more warning alerts about it, no “Water Talisman Malfunction” filling up my terminal screen, nothing. Everything was fine for the next couple of days.

One day, one of the security ponies went to me and reported the death of that poor fellow. Bless his soul, that poor bastard. Anyways, after that event, the talisman malfunctioned once again. Since there was nobody else to replace him yet, I decided to do it myself. I’m an engineer, mind you, so I knew what I was doing. What caught me off-guard though was when I went there. There was no water talisman. Instead, there was this “chip”, taking control of our water purifier. At first, it didn’t do anything else other than purifying water. It was just like a water talisman, except a bit more technologically advanced. So I thought, “Hey, we must be lucky to have this advanced chip in our Stable! Maybe it’s better than a water talisman”. I did a quick check on it and left the place, not realizing it’s menacing purpose.

I’ll continue writing next time. I need to help this place. It was my fault that this happened.

“Uhm, Eclipse? You there?” Amethyst waved a hoof in front of my face. I blinked, realizing where I was.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I answered her. “So, what now?”

“Ooh, I’ve got an idea! You’re being vague about your past and I think I need a bit more information,” She lit up her horn. “And this is a payback for using that spell.”

“I don’t like the sound of this…” I gulped and leaned a bit farther from her. “You're not going to do that on me, are you? Trust me, I’m just an Earth pony with no magical abilities. I can’t do that! It must be someone else that did it.”

“Who else then? Larynx? I don’t think he even knows how to do it. This kinds of spells are hard to learn, it took me a few years to perfect it,” She leaned closer, a mischievous smile plastered on her face. “So keep still, friends trusts each other when it comes to these kinds of stuffs, right?”

“I’m sure this is considered an invasion of privacy,” I continued to lean back until I reached a point where if I leaned back even further, I’ll fall of the chair.

“Hey, an eye for an eye, right? You saw my memories and now I’ll see yours,” Before I could object, she already touched my forehead with her horn.

“Seems you have nowhere to run now!” The thug smirked. I was in an alley and I was cornered by him and his group.

“What do you want from me?!” My voice shook, I was terrified.

“We want you dead! We want you to be just a rotting corpse floating somewhere in the river,” The thug growled, carrying his blade. They came closer to me, surrounding me. I had no way to escape.

“What did I even do to you?!” I tried thinking of a way to at least survive this encounter.

“What did you do to us? You got one our best members jailed!” He swiped the blade at me. I barely dodged it, the blade cutting off a bit of fur from my neck.

“He was trying to steal my money! He deserved it and-” I was interrupted by another swipe of the blade. This time, I wasn’t so lucky. I felt blood trickle down from the wound on my cheek.

“I’m tired of your talking, let’s just finish this,” He looked at his 2 accomplices. “Interrogator, make sure he doesn’t squirm. Watcher, keep an eye out for any wandering eyes.”

They both nodded. The one with a bandana wrapped around his horn wrapped me his magic, immobilizing me. The one with the sunglasses teleported to who knows where. The last one, the one who just cut me, walked closer to me.

“Now, let’s make your death slow and agonizing,” He slowly cut my leg. I bit my lips and whimpered. He just grinned and continued to torture me.

“Leave my son alone!” A stallion came out of nowhere and punched the thug in the face. I recognized him as my Dad.

“What the hell old man?” The thug quickly got back up. “This isn’t your business to deal with. And where the hell is Watcher, he’s supposed to be watching for stray eyes.”

“I dealt with that friend of yours,” Dad punched him again and again and again. I have never seen him so...brutal. The one that’s keeping me wrapped in magic didn’t know what to do, he just stood there watching him pound his friend into a pulp.

After what felt like forever, he stopped and glared at the bandana unicorn. The unicorn screamed and dropped me then ran away for his own safety. Dad quickly went to my side and checked my wounds.

“Son, are you alright?” he worriedly asked me.

“N-No, I’m not alright! I-I got threatened and I got cut and I nearly lost my life to them...and...and...” I was crying, crying because I thought I would never see another day again. He gently hugged me, comforting me that everything is okay.

Everything will be okay…

I stared deep into the lavender eyes of Amethyst, waiting for her to back away from me. She blinked and realized she was a bit too close to me, like, someone could get the wrong message if they see us.

“So, what did you think about that memory?” I asked her.

“I...I don’t know…” She replied. “That must have been a traumatic experience for you, huh?”

“I guess, but did you notice anything wrong with the memory?”

“Like what?”

“The sky, Amethyst, can you remember the color of the sky in my memory?”

“Yeah, it was color...blue…”

“Yes, it’s blue. Lovely color, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is but, how is this related to your memory?”

“Amethyst...the sky isn’t blue now. It’s covered by clouds. Thick, gray ones. Also, if you noticed...the ones that attacked me aren’t raiders.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“This memory you saw...was a very long time ago…”

She looked at me, confused maybe. She slowly backed away from me and sat down properly.

“How long ago?” She asked me.

“I don’t know, before the war probably,” I answered. “I know that doesn’t make sense but that memory was really 200 years ago.”

“Are you serious? You should be dead by now then, no offense.”

“None taken. Yes, I’m serious...but I’m not sure how it’s possible…” I sighed. “Oh Celestia, I don’t know anymore.”

“Oh...oh…” She glanced at the floor then at the table.

“I still have to tell you something,” I told her. Her ears perked up.

“What is it this time?” She asked me.

“I miss them...my...family. They seemed nice, kind even. I wish I could see them again but, I know I can’t,” I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes.

“I’m..sorry,” She looked at me. “I know the feeling...to lose your family. The feeling that you’re all alone, that without them...you feel so vulnerable, so lost…”

“You lost your family?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it…”

“Ok...at least you can remember them. You grew up with them. Me? I...don’t even remember their names. All I have is vague memories from the past. To me, the lose of my family...it’s nothing.”

I sighed once more and silence settled in. We don’t know what to talk about now, seeing as how a normal conversation suddenly took a dark turn. Eventually, she’s the one to break the silence.

“Hey, one of the doctors at the clinic told me you had somewhere to go. Something about finding your...friends?” She waited for a reply. I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah...But I can’t leave this place for now,” I told her. “I really need to find them, they really mean so much to me. They were the ones that helped me survive this Wasteland.”

“Oh, right. He also told me that while you were asleep, you were mumbling the name of a...filly, I think. What’s the name? Raindrops?” She asked me. I was on the verge of tears.

“Raindrops...Oh Celestia…” I covered my face so she wouldn’t see me crying. “I...I was supposed to take care of her ever since her father died. He made me promise that. Shit, I failed him. And you know what’s the worst thing so far?”

“W-What?” She asked, a bit worried.

“She calls me ‘daddy’, of all the names she could call me, it had to be daddy,” I slammed my head on the table. “It hurts...It fucking hurts. I’m supposed to protect her but I failed...The last time I saw her with my friends was at Stable 5. We were trying to escape from something. They got out but something trapped me inside. The next thing I know, they got ambushed by a bunch of raiders and the Stable door closed.”

“A-Are you crying?”

“No! No, I’m not!”

Suddenly, I felt someone rub my back. I flinched at the contact but didn’t turn to look.

“Shh...It’s okay,” Amethyst comforted me. “You’ll find them, I know you will. If you care for them this much, then I know you’ll meet them again.”

I continued sobbing. She continued rubbing my back in a comforting and calming manner. That really helped me stop my tears but I was still feeling guilty. I should have tried breaking that wall. The guilt was killing me.

“You feel okay now?” She asked me again.

“Yeah...I guess,” I replied. I sighed and decided just to enjoy the back rubs. I wiped any tears left off my face and rested my head on the table. She stopped and instead, wrapped her forelegs around me in a warm embrace.

“Does this make you feel better?” She whispered.

“Amethyst, a bit too close and maybe too much contact…” I tried speaking.

“Oh, don’t worry. I do this all the time. If one needs a hug, they get a hug,” She smiled. I tried to reply but nothing came out of my mouth. My body stopped working as she continued to hug me. A mare hugging a stallion, huh...I never would have thought it was real. It was a nice feeling too so I decided to relax and closed my eyes.

Everything will be okay...